Chapter 01: Wendelin Becomes a Father

"Uuuuugh... it still hasn't been born...?"

Soon after the graduation of Agnes' group and the talk with Doushi about his past, Elise finally went into labor. As a soon-to-be father I wanted to stay by her side, but in this world men are not allowed to enter the room where the child is being born.

Even the midwife and healers, who Cardinal Hohenheim had arranged for, were all women. The only men involved with childbirth were doctors, but even they were surprisingly not allowed to enter the room of the laboring woman during the birth.

"Still not...? Not yet...??"

I've been single-mindedly waiting outside the room where Elise was giving birth.

Since I've gotten too bored and extremely frustrated, I open a nearby window to get some fresh air. Thereupon, I spotted a huge tree. Since I can see many leaves continuously falling to the ground after being shaken off by the wind, I repeatedly shoot minuscule 『Fireballs』 at them.

If you're asking why I'm doing something like that, the answer would be that I couldn't endure worrying without doing anything as my emotions are too riled up. Given that it calms my mind and also serves as special magic training, I'm killing two birds with one stone here.

There's no other meaning to it.

"I'm going to call it 『Fire Gun』. Are any more leaves going to fall...?"

Quickly running out of targets, I sit down on my chair again, and begin to nervously tap a foot. I never had the habit of doing something like that in my two lives, but I feel like it allows me to calm down a bit.

"Uhhh."

However, I quickly lose my composure again, so I take Master's book out of my magic bag this time, and begin to read it. I scan through everything Master has written down, wondering whether I might have missed any knowledge or magic useful for childbirth.

"Nothing... a spell helping with childbirth... ah, Master was a man... besides, he was single..."

Since it's a book I've received more than ten years ago, I've read it to such an extent that I remember each and every single word in it, so it's impossible for me to discover anything new.

"Next is..."

Because I've become irritated again, I take out an empty magic gem and try to store some mana in it...

"The magic gem twinkles so nicely! How beautiful, Yay! —bah, that's only natural, isn't it!?"

It's common knowledge that a magic gem glows if you pour mana into it.

"Vel, give it a rest and calm down, will you?"

"Well, but, you see..."

"Nothing will change even with you getting flustered."

Eru, who's waiting for Elise's delivery with me, cautions me to settle down.

"Isn't it somewhat late?"

"Only two hours have passed so far. Won't it take some time since it's Elise's first child?"

I guess Eru got some knowledge about childbirth. During my life so far, I never got in contact with childbirth... In my previous life I had a brother who was one year younger than me, but of course it's impossible for me to remember the time of his birth.

In this world, I was the youngest child, and since the men were chased out even more fervently than now when Amalie-san gave birth to her children, I don't know anything about it.

"Eru, you sure are well-informed."

"There were many childbirths back home. It's not like I helped out with those, but there were many cases where it took the midwife half a day or a day to come running. Though some of them were quite fast."

I see, so he's watched childbirths by the residents of his parent's territory. I was busy with my magic training, so I never paid any attention to that.

"Vel-kun, drink this and calm down a bit."

As I'm chatting with Eru, Amalie-san hands me a cup filled with mate tea.

"At times like these, it's bad if the father isn't a tower of strength."

"Meaning?"

"It'd be best for you to simply sit here in silence."

"Got it."

My mind finally calmed down after I got cautioned by Amalie-san.

"Oh man, it's good that you're here with us, Amalie-san..."

* * *

A lot of time has passed... I wonder how many hours it's been...? Eru and I continue to wait stoically. I wonder, does smoking a cigarette at such times distracts one better?

I tried one during my time at university in my previous life, but it didn't do me any good as I ended up choking horribly. Since this world has no cigarettes, I'd need to produce it from scratch by myself.

No, if I search, I might find some, but I don't really know what tobacco leaves look like. It didn't pique my interest so far since it's no food... though I might have know the full account if I got a job over at ○Ｔ.

Well, I wouldn't have had any chance with such an elite company anyway... oops, I'm digressing.

"Since Burkhart-san isn't here, there's no way to drink some wi..."

"Even if he was here, this isn't the time to drink alcohol, is it...?"

"No clue."

Burkhart-san loves his booze above all, so I wouldn't be surprised if he were to start a drinking bout in this place either.

"Wait, the move to distract your mind with alcohol..."

"Stop it. The idea is retarded!"

Immediately after I get warned by Eru that it's wrong to have a drinking bout when your own child is being born, I can hear a baby loudly crying from the room where Elise is giving birth.

—My child has finally been born.

『Ogyaa———a!　Ogyaa———a!』

"Vel!"

"Eru!"

"It was born!"

"Yeah!"

I try to open the door in a hurry, but it's still locked.

"Heey! You can already open up, can't you!?"

『Ah, yes. We're going to open it right away.』

Once I tell them to open the door, I hear the midwife answering from within. As expected of a true veteran, she isn't perturbed at all. I guess it's the proper attitude since everyone would likely become anxious if the midwife panicked during the birth.

She opens the door's lock while answering carefreely. And in the instant a small crack appears as I pull on the door, a dazzling light floods out from inside the room.

"Magic light?"

"What's with this radiance?"

When I hurriedly enter the room with Eru, a shining baby enters our field of view. The one emitting the dazzling light is the baby that was just born by Elise.

"Nothing less of my child. It's already shining. No, it's got a wonderful charisma that doesn't resemble me at all!"

"You're already acting like a doting parent, or what!? But, do babies shine like this normally? It's definitely got something to do with magic."

The baby's glow disappeared after one hour, but when I checked its mana, it had an amount of mana at the level of an elementary magician, despite having just been born.

It was at this very moment that Arnest's claim about my babies very likely all becoming magicians unexpectedly turned into reality.

* * *

"Elise, it's a shining, healthy boy. You did awesome."

"Thanks, I'm happy that he's healthy."

Since the baby is safe and sound, I first talk to Elise while casting healing magic on her to alleviate her exhaustion somewhat. It's the healing magic I don't use overly often since it's inferior to Elise's, but now it's a good help after a long time of not using it.

"I'm relieved that it's a boy."

Elise must have been expected to give birth to a boy by her family. Because she managed to accomplish this, she now looks very relieved. Though I'm simply happy that it's been born safely without a care about the gender.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, considering it is Elise-sama's first child, I am relieved that it was an easy delivery. It finished almost without the need to use healing magic to soften the labor pains."

The veteran midwife Cardinal Hohenheim sent here informs us that it was born a lot faster than planned. Just for caution's sake, several priestesses capable of using healing magic have been waiting here on standby as well, but it looks like they didn't have much to do.

It's common knowledge in this world that healing magic will be frequently used by priests if it's a long and complicated delivery. However, it has the condition that it's limited to people of status who can afford to call healers over. Ordinary people bear their children while shouldering the risks, just as it happened in ancient Japan.

"I see, that's wonderful."

It means the perfect superwoman Elise has demonstrated her perfection even during childbirth.

"How adorable. His hair color resembles mine, huh...?"

His face still looks like that of a monkey, but the baby has inherited the strong, light brown hair color, characteristic of the Earl Baumeister House. I'm sure this boy is going to become a handsome guy. It's said that boys resemble their mothers. so he probably won't become a loner like me.

"Dear, please give this child a name."

"Oh right... I had many candidates, but I'll make sure to decide properly."

I've been preparing to name my children for quite some time now, but in the middle of it I got quite confused about what name to go with. I ended up brooding over it on end as I felt like I'd find a better name as soon as I decided on a specific one. This has continued for the entire last week.

"Please go ahead then."

"Cardinal Hohenheim didn't say anything about wanting to name him?"

For the sake of his beloved granddaughter he dispatched priestesses capable of healing and an excellent midwife who's likely contending for number one or two in the capital. Those women seem to be superb enough to even assist with the birth of royalty.

Having gone this far, he might have asked to be allowed to name the child.

"Grandfather told me that you should be the one to name it, no matter what. Because this child is going to become the heir of the Earl Baumeister House."

Even if this boy might be his great-grandson, it's still going to be the next patriarch of another Earl House. I guess it wouldn't make any sense for Cardinal Hohenheim to name it.

"Vel, you still haven't decided?"

"Somehow I can't quite narrow it down to one name."

"It's fine to name the child in a few days, but this child is shining very brightly, isn't it?"

It's already a written fact that this boy is going to become the next Earl Baumeister. Rather than that, the point about it having inherited the trait of being a magician, which shouldn't normally be hereditary, stands out as odd. The mysterious phenomenon of its dazzling glowing at the time of its birth — did the same happen when Wendelin was born?

I'm kinda scared to ask father since I feel like I'd unnecessarily stir up a hornet's nest...

"Elise, have you ever heard about a phenomenon like this?"

"No, it's my first time to encounter it."

Elise immediately places the baby at her breast to allow it to suck some milk. It looks like the baby quite readily accepts the offer to drink.

Eru had left the room before that. After all it would be improper for him to see the breast of his lord's wife, and as Elise's friend, he took her feelings into consideration.

* * *

"Is it fine now, Vel?"

"Yeah."

Right after Elise finished feeding the baby its first milk, Eru returns while bringing someone with him. It's our dangerous guest from afar, the archeologist and demon Arnest.

As he has been writing a thesis about a new underground ruin he's explored around one month ago, he has holed himself up in his room until now.

"Earl Baumeister, Mrs. Wife, congratulations on the safe delivery."

Unexpectedly — although it might be rude to phrase it like that — Arnest seems to have enough common sense to at least congratulate us. Even if there's the precedent of him having caused quite a bit of chaos by pointing out my special characteristics without any hesitation before that.

If Arnest's deduction had been wrong, all would have ended as some random, fictional theory brought up by a scholar, but as a matter of fact, the baby does have mana.

It might lead to many difficulties for this child as the next Earl Baumeister, but I have a hunch that it'll bring me a lot of troubles as well.

"It's just as you've said, Arnest... though it would have been better if it had stayed a silly theory by some scholar..."

"Earl Baumeister, no matter how much of a genius I might be, it is still possible for me to sometimes come up with wrong theories. However, the theories concerning artificial magicians have been researched by experts over many, many years, and thus can be regarded as proven facts. It would be best for you to accept it for what it is since there is no mistake in the theoretical foundation."

"I see..."

If I'm going to believe Arnest, the research related to the artificial magicians of the Ancient Magic Civilization has long ended in the demon country.

"The researchers of the Ancient Magic Civilization have tried to artificially inherit magic ability as it is inborn for us demons. However, there is too much of a difference between humans and demons, and therefore they failed in changing it into a permanently inherent component. Our research results tell us that this is owed to the inheritance ability of the blueprint of life related to magic being too weak in humans."

Still, blueprint of life, eh...? You really can't underestimate the scientific level of the Ancient Magic Civilization, seeing how they've been able to identify genetic structures. The genes influencing magic have a dominant heredity in demons, and a recessive heredity in humans, I guess.

"What about halves then?"

"Our records tell us that they existed in the past."

Going by outward appearance demons aren't all that different from humans as they've only got slightly longer ears, so I'd think it should be possible for humans and demons to make children with each other.

"However, halves cannot give birth to children amongst each other."

Giving birth to children between halves would be the most efficient method to affix the genes related to magic in the following generations. However, it looks like that option doesn't exist.

"If a half makes a child with a human, the child will be a human, and if they make the child with a demon, the child will be a demon."

I suppose this is the reason why no halves between humans and demons exist on this continent. Currently the demons live in the far west, avoiding exchange with the humans, but I already considered it strange for there to not exist a single descendant of their blood in this land.

"The detailed method has not been handed down, but the researchers of the Ancient Magic Civilization have worked out a method to create magicians up to many generations into the future through some kind of special process."

No artificial magicians survived the collapse of the Ancient Magic Civilization, but it looks like the genetic traits have revived in me through atavism by chance.

"What a strange story. But, how can you say that it's true for me? If this was truly the case, wouldn't it have been noticed by my family right after my birth?"

It's unthinkable that the parents wouldn't notice a baby shining as bright as a signal flare right after its birth. But then again, it's unclear whether Wendelin possessed magic right after his birth.

"It is impossible for the blueprint of life to change after the birth, but I have heard that you have become aware of your talent in magic at an age of around five or six, Earl Baumeister. Did something happen around that time?"

"No, nothing in particular."

"Hm———m, that makes it a riddle then."

The age mentioned by him is just the period of time when I transferred into Wendelin. Did Wendelin's genes change in some way when the souls were swapped? Considering it like that, it'd make sense, but either way, it's just a guess, and it's not like knowing the truth would actually change anything. Also, there's something else I've got to do first.

"Names... there's way too many candidates..."

"So that's the part worrying you!?"

"The name is important. After all, it's going to stick with this child for the rest of its life."

There's no way that I'm going to use some silly, vogue name. I take Helmut Kingdom's biographical dictionary out of my magic bag, and begin to flip the pages.

Anyway, I must name my son as soon as possible.

"Didn't you say something about having many candidates?"

"It might contain another good name..."

I end up worrying deeply about the child's name once again.

"——Oh, it was born, Elise~!"

"——A boy, huh? That's great news."

Ina and Luise, both close to giving birth themselves, enter the room, and seem relieved seeing that Elise's child is a boy. If this child had been a girl, and Ina or Luise gave birth to a boy afterwards, the number of family members trying to meddle with the succession right might have grown in number.

"I think it'd be impossible going by family status, but there's always people kicking up a fuss in order to force things..."

"Like a part of Margrave Breithilde House's retainers..."

It was conceivable that they might start some political maneuvering, believing that it'd be easier to control the child of Ina or Luise than that of Elise. Of course that's utter nonsense, but not all of Margrave Breithilde's are decent, and it's not like the Margrave can perfectly control all of them either. Since people causing trouble would definitely show up one way or the other, you can call Elise giving birth to the heir a huge relief.

"I tell you, nobles are truly annoying..."

"Rather than that, are you still troubled with the naming?"

"Eru, how about you?"

Since Haruka is going to give birth soon as well, Eru should be in the same position as me with having to come up with a name for the child.

"Leon if it's a boy, and Emma if it's a girl." Eru declares without any hesitation.

The speed of his decision really makes me envious.

"What criteria did you use?"

"Well, you see, I just flipped randomly through the book you're holding, Vel."

It looks like he picked the names that caught his attention. I feel like that's a fairly irresponsible way of handling it, but those aren't bad names.

"I mean, it's endless once you start worrying about such things. The Baumeister House has no traditional names or some such, right?"

"None..."

Just what is Eru expecting from the Baumeister family? I've never heard anything about traditional names from my parents or brothers.

"Our family has them, however. The eldest son is usually given the name of a family head from several generations ago."

This method isn't limited to just Eru's family either. Quite a few noble families are practicing this way of naming. That's because giving the eldest son a name that can only be used by family heads emphasizes that this boy is going to become the heir.

"But, what if something happens to the eldest son, resulting in the second son succeeding?"

"You give the second son the name of a former family head as well. That's also the reason why they're treated as spares."

"The name is that of a family head, and yet they're treated as spares, forced to live back at home..."

I can't suppress feelings of pity welling up within me when I consider how trivially second sons are treated in this world. For their only good treatment to be their name...

"But, maybe the Baumeister House actually has strict naming rules and I simply haven't been told since I'm the eighth son..."

Wondering about that, I took out my MHCD and contacted Paul. After telling him about Elise having given birth to a boy, I have him put Dad on.

『It's a boy? That's wonderful.』

"Yes, it gives us peace of mind."

『Parents always worry about all kinds of things when it's their first child』

Dad is delighted that a male heir has been born for me. He immediately passes the MHCD to Mom, who likewise cheerfully congratulates me for the birth of a boy.

『That doesn't mean that a girl would have been bad or anything like that, but nobles pay a lot attention to male heirs. Many nobles are troubled as they can't quite give birth to children. After all, it involves the continued existence of their house.』

In case the wives don't give birth to a boy, the house is being maintained by adopting a son-in-law from relatives or outside, but in the end, parents strongly wish to have a son, who shares their blood, to succeed the house.

『It seems our Baumeister family never had any problems with giving birth to children, but...』

The scale and financial situation has always been somewhat dicey, but my family never had problems with producing heirs.

Come to think of it, all of my brothers quickly produced boys after marrying. Dad has fathered ten children as well, so if pushed to say, I'd rather describe our family as having problems with what to do with all the children than having a lack of children.

"By the way, Dad, does the Baumeister family have some established naming rules?"

『It's not like we have none. We usually used the names of the previous family heads. But then again, it's not like our family has been too strict on adhering to this custom either... 』

It's kinda rude to call it unexpected, but it seems like the Baumeister family had such a tradition too. Ah... but that would mean it's possible that one of my descendants is going to be called Kurt in the future...

『Wendelin, only Hermann's place follows that naming rule. Since Paul is the founder of his house, he's decided the names by himself. And Helmut and Erich respected the rules of the families they married into.』

I see. I guess I must decide the names of my children by myself since I'm the founding family head.

『Paul also worried about it, but during such times, the kingdom's biographical dictionary is very useful. Paul made use of it as well. As final measure, you can flip its pages and then randomly stop at some point... 』

"I see..."

If you worry about the child's name, rely on the dictionary. It sure looks like it's a standard work which serves many of the fathers living in the Helmut Kingdom as reference, and not just our family.

It appears that Dad also chose my name as it caught his attention when he randomly flipped through the dictionary back when I was about to be born. Sounds like a father is going to start cutting corners if he reaches his tenth child.

『I'll come visit to see my grandson after he's grown up a bit.』

"Sure, we're looking forward to your visit."

I turned off the MHCD after finishing my conversation with Dad.

"I must think of a name..."

Given that it's the name of my child, I think I should name it more like... yes... putting the wishes of its parents into the name. But, what would be a name containing my wishes?

I begin to feel terribly out of place here. As someone housing a Japanese person inside, I've problems coming up with good ideas if I can't use kanji. Why are the names mostly German-based despite this world using Japanese as its language?

"(As if I'd know the meaning of German names...)"

I chose German as a second language at university, but I've forgotten most of it by now. 『Guten Morgen』 and 『Baumkuchen』... are completely useless as names for a child...

In the first place, I've got absolutely no clue what my Wendelin means either.

In that case, I think it won't work unless I change my policy here.

(Note: Wendelin is a male given name and a surname of Germanic origin meaning "wander" or "wanderer".)

"The Kingdom's biographical dictionary is useful."

"I guess I'll try to take a look since it has all possible prospects listed..."

I randomly turn the pages of the dictionary, but then stop. A single name on the current page has caught my attention.

"Let's go with Friedrich."

"Whoa, that took like no time!"

"Isn't this a great name?"

"You're right, it has a nice ring to it."

During history class in my previous life, I've heard that a king or emperor used that name, and I genuinely think that it sounds cool. It's also a plus that it's a name somehow sounding like its holder is going to become a big-shot.

"It's settled! This boy is going to be called Friedrich!"

"Friedrich von Benno Baumeister? It is a nice name."

Seeing how Elise has given her approval as well, the baby's name is set in stone with this. This child is going to further develop this territory as next Earl Baumeister.

"Friedrich, grow up quickly so that I can retire soon."

If this child is going to diligently handle the duties as lord for me, I'll be able to lead a life of retirement while freely going on adventures without any need to worry.

"Man, you totally spoiled it on so many levels! The deep emotions over a male heir having been born, and everything else!"

"Vel, you're still in your teens, aren't you? How about not talking like an old man?"

"No matter how many different things might have happened around here lately, I doubt that you can simply step back just like that."

For some reason I end up blamed by Eru, Ina, and Luise, but either way, it's great that my son has been born safely.

* * *

This was a point that allowed me to feel relieved for starters, but half a month later, Ina, and then my other wives went into labor one after the other. The birth rush at the Baumeister House was on full throttle.

"This is definitely more painful than I've imagined..."

"Ina-san, let me heal you."

"Thanks, Elise... ouuucchh!"

"I will increase the healing power a bit."

"Thanks, it's already become a lot less painful."

This world has parts where childbirth is a lot easier than back in Japan. Of course, it has the precondition that you can afford a healer, though.

Ina managed to safely give birth to a girl thanks to Elise's healing.

Just like when Friedrich was born, my options were limited to waiting... not.

"Milord, there's a method how you can definitely take your mind off things."

"Oh, something so amazing exists? What is it?"

"It's work, milord."

"Even though my child is being born?"

"Milord, I shall immediately notify you with the MHCD once your child is born. Then you will be able to come back with 『Teleport』 at once."

"Roderich! You're a devil! Moreover, a terrible one!"

"This is all for the sake of your children."

Like this, my schedule was crammed full with work by Roderich, starting with Ina's childbirth, since I wouldn't be able to calm down while waiting for the child to be born. Of course it's fine as long as I get back immediately once the child is born, but still, Roderich is a true fiend.

"Milord, you must do your very best for the children who are going to be born. The development of the territory is going to directly influence the children's well-being, and they will grow up while watching their father's strenuous efforts."

"A newly born baby can't watch my strenuous efforts, though."

"...It's work."

"Roderich, you tried to dodge the issue just now, didn't you?"

What Roderich says is sound, but I think it's terrible for a retainer to push his lord around to work until the very minute the lord's child is born. As I prepare the soil in an area where a new town is going to be built, I keep waiting, wondering when my child is going to be born.

And then, several hours later, I finally got the message that Ina's child had been born.

"She has your hair, hasn't she Ina? A girl sure is adorable as well."

Honestly though, boy or girl both kinda look like apes right after their birth... but, she's going to become cute in no time.

"Just as with Elise, this child is dazzlingly shining as well."

"I had expected as much, but this one as well, huh...?"

In accordance with Arnest's explanation, Ina's and my daughter radiantly glows as well.

* * *

Next...

"My child is a girl as well, eh? And it also shines."

The childbirth rush at the Baumeister House keeps going. Following Luise, Katharina gives birth to a boy, Therese to a girl, Wilma to a girl, Katia to a girl, and Lisa to a girl over a period of several months.

In the mere span of a few months, I have become the father of two boys and six girls after becoming 18 years old myself.

But, eight children, eh...? It looks like I'm going to pass Dad in no time...

"There are many girls, but Friedrich and Cayenne will have to do their best as the only guys."

"Wendelin-san, just what are you expecting babies to do their best at?"

"Since men tend to bond with other men, there will be times where they're going to be worn out from being constantly surrounded by many women."

"Is that so?"

Katharina looks as if she doesn't get what I'm saying, but it's a serious issue for a man. Among children, girls grow up faster and they're more skilled with words as well.

Friedrich and Cayenne might find it difficult to be surrounded by older and younger sisters all the time. It's similar to what you'd call in Japan, 『A man among a crowd of women.』. I guess it's a salvation that they won't be isolated since there's two of them.

"Doesn't Erwin-san's family have Leon as well?"

Once the childbirths finished, the babies were moved to an exclusive child room. Because of the large number of babies to accommodate, a big room was allocated to them. Then we prepared the appropriate number of cribs in there, turning that place into their living space.

Because noble houses often had wet nurses to help with the born children, Haruka and the wives of other retainers were assembled in the child room. However, as long as there was no milk insufficiency, feeding the babies was basically handled by the mothers.

"Elise, is that fine with you?"

"Each noble house deals with it differently, so I would like to breastfeed my child by myself."

Some houses completely leave the breastfeeding to wet nurses, others compensate only when there's a lack of milk, and some have the mothers somehow manage it all. Whichever is chosen depends on the family's tradition, or the patriarch and his wives pushing through their own agendas.

In other words, it was random.

However, in all cases, wet nurses are apparently hired as baby-sitters to take care of the children in alternation with the mother. Well, although I call it hiring, it's not like it's possible for women from outside to enter this circle. In most cases it's the wife of a retainer who has recently given birth herself. For this reason, our family has also hired Haruka, Eru's wife, as a wet nurse.

In Haruka's case, she can also guard the babies, so it's two birds with one stone. I don't think that anyone is targeting my children at present, but it's never wrong to be on the safe side.

Of course, Leon is sleeping in a crib right next to my children. He's going to become my children's foster brother.

"Gathering the children of the wet nurses in one place will also raise the child rearing efficiency."

"Efficiency, eh...?"

"Everyone is busy after all."

The wives of my retainers don't have any free time either, so it's true that it's more efficient to rear the children together in one place. It also has the goal of bringing up the children of lord and retainers together so that they develop a feeling of solidarity, turning the retainers' children into very loyal retainers themselves. Since we're a new house, it's all the more important to strengthen the bonds between lord and retainers.

It's planned to not only bring in Leon, but also the children of the retainers living close to Baulburg.

"I think it's a great custom, but we never did anything like that back at home..."

Going by Wendelin's memories, something like wet nurses or wet siblings were a no-show. It seems I was a loner to the bitter end. Even though it's me saying it, I must admit, I had a childhood that makes me cry.

"Among provincial lords, some don't have the means..."

Still, it sounds like it's common for the wives of retainers to share their milk, and have children of the same age play together as childhood friends to strengthen their loyalty.

"Or they limit it to just the succeeding eldest son, right?"

Eru, who got neglected just like me, declares that he had no foster brothers or wet nurses either.

"Ooohh, comrade!"

"What a bad reason to be your comrade... I was relieved that Haruka-san safely gave birth to Leon as our heir."

This means the Armin House can breathe a sigh of relief as well.

With Eru and me watching from the side, Haruka is changing the diapers of one baby after the other.

"Haruka is quite skilled at this, isn't she?"

Even though it should be her first child, Haruka is quite familiar with baby care. Once I ask her why, she explains that she's been taking care of her relatives' babies in her childhood.

"It's because low-ranking samurai are generally poor."

Given that men and women must work to earn money for the family, the families and their relatives have a custom of bringing the children together and have the older children take care of the younger ones. While taking care of the young ones, Haruka practiced her swordsmanship in her free time until she was chosen for the Battou Unit.

"As expected of a sword genius..."

If I had been in her shoes, I'd have had my hands full with taking care of the babies.

"Still, having someone experienced around sure is appreciated."

Several wet nurses experienced with baby care are present as well, and skilfully see to caring for Friedrich and my other children while also handling their own children.

My retainers, who got married thanks to that big marriage meeting, have produced children, resulting in a record-breaking baby-boom within the Baumeister Earldom.

"Leaving that aside, the big problem is... Elise's Friedrich, my son Cayenne, and the children of the others..."

"Isn't it great that they've inherited the talents of their mothers?"

"I feel like the danger goes beyond that..."

As might be expected, even Katharina actually feels uneasy about all the children fathered by me to have the qualifications of magicians. Since they all shone right after their birth, the midwife and priestesses, who were dispatched by Cardinal Hohenheim, have apparently gotten used to it. Them not saying anything is probably owed to Cardinal Hohenheim having firmly told them to keep it confidential.

However, with information easily leaking at the church, it's reasonable to be anxious when considering how other people are going to react from now on.

"I'm happy that Cayenne, the next family head of the Waigel House, will be a magician, but..."

Katharina is worried that various other issues are going to spring up again, now that only magicians have been born in our family. Pushing wives on me is going to become a major issue.

"It'll work out as long as you firmly turn down all such requests."

I'm no thoroughbred who dominates the Triple Crown. As if I'd allow myself to be turned into a studhorse!

"You're right. Even if those three are set by now."

"Ugh...!"

Having Katharina point out the matter with Agnes, Betty, and Cindy, something pricks my heart.

"Either way, right now there's another urgent problem."

"Another urgent problem?"

"Yes, if a noble house gives birth to children, things become troublesome in various ways."

I'm threatened by Roderich, who's come to visit in order to check the situation since his child is here as well, that things are going to become hairy from now on.

"It's just at the level of sending some letters of thanks after receiving congratulatory gifts, no?"

"Well, that describes it basically, but..."

For the time being, the childbirth rush has finished at eight children, but a little while after that, the Earl Baumeister House was dragged into various disputes.

Chapter 02: Wendelin, Setback

"Friedrich, Anna, Elsa, Cayenne, Flora, Irene, Hilde, and Laura are all sleeping so peacefully. Yep, it's a sight for sore eyes."

It's a magnificent view. More than 20 cribs are set up in a big room of the Baumeister mansion.

Elise, Haruka, and the wives of my retainers, whom we had hired as wet nurses, are looking after the sleeping babies. It ended up turning into a baby park, but even afterwards, this place is scheduled to become a nursery school and then a primary school.

Because this world doesn't have something like primary schools, you can say it's going to count as elementary education, I suppose. By having my retainers' children live together with my children, they'll become loyal subjects of the Baumeister House.

I can see why it's been done like this in the history of Earth as well. I mean, you can't expect a newcomer to loyally serve his lord all of a sudden.

Since they're going to learn together as childhood friends while growing up in a group from early childhood, it's only natural to appoint trusted friends as important retainers, granted they are capable of doing their job properly, over an outsider whose family background is unknown, even if they might be capable.

Elise and the other women feed the babies, who start crying in a chain reaction, with their mother's milk, resulting in them immediately falling back into a peaceful slumber as soon as their tummies are full.

Watching their sleeping faces, I feel my heart being wrapped up by a peaceful, warm feeling.

"Babies are wonderful. They seem to cleanse your mind and heart."

"Milord, I am sorry to spoil your pleasure, but unfortunately it is time for your job as an adult."

"I know, I know..."

Once a noble family gives birth to a child, the nobles with ties to them will send celebratory gifts. If you receive such gifts, it's only good manners to send a letter of thanks, and of course, you must later send gifts to those noble families once they give birth to children.

That said, it'd be wrong to not first grasp who sent what and write a letter of thanks in accordance. Because it looks like such letters use various rules such as how to phrase the text, beginning the letter with seasonal greetings, and many more, my brain is on the verge of bursting.

As a matter of fact, I got a business writing certificate after being ordered by my senior boss during my company employee days to take that course, but it's not really of much use here. Since it was second and not first grade... I simply forgot about it, I guess...

Given that my wives are busy with nursing, it's my duty to take care of this task while at the same time handling the public works.

"Still, why are there so many of them?"

"Wouldn't that be because they want to strengthen their ties with the Baumeister House and show off those ties to their surroundings?"

Roderich answers while looking at me with an expression as if asking me why I'm asking something so obvious.

"I guess you've got a point..."

A huge mountain of celebratory gifts has been piled up in the room next to the baby park. Because of the sheer amount, it looks like it could collapse any moment.

"Wow, isn't it awesome that you've got so many?"

"It means I have to write a large number of letters and later on also send gifts to them if babies are born at their place, though..."

It's not all sunshine as Eru thinks it is.

Nobles earn a lot of money, but at the same time, a lot of that money is spent as well. Among all the expenses, the costs for socializing should rank pretty high. Even in my previous life, it was normal custom to return gifts if you received congratulatory gifts or funeral offerings, but the gifts of nobles are on a different scale altogether when it comes to price...

It'd be impolite if you don't precisely evaluate the value of the gift you received and later send something of equal value, so looking up all this stuff makes it all much more of a chore.

"There's somewhat many of them. Leave it to me."

I've decided to entrust the task of looking up the prices for the gifts to Arterio-san who brought his own gift over some time ago. According to him, this seems the kind of job an exclusive purveyor handles.

"I suppose settling things by resolutely calling the gift exchanging off is impossible?"

"That'd unreasonable as it'd cause many people to lose their jobs."

Since the people making and selling the gifts would be out of work if you abolished this custom, it's indispensable for this custom to keep going, Arterio-san further explained to me.

"Some are even from noble houses I've never heard of... Roderich, do you know them?"

"I know some of them, by name at least, and others are unknown to me as well. I'll have the crest official check their families."

If we don't do that, it'll be troublesome since writing a letter of thanks will be kinda difficult.

"Margrave Breithilde, Cardinal Hohenheim, and Minister Rückner should be set with this."

Since I know them anyway, I don't expect to run into any issues with writing a letter of thanks to them.

"Not quite..."

There are all kinds of small rules for the letters, and on top of that, all of them have to be written by hand, so it's going to be lots of trouble.

"I want to cry here... doesn't some pen capable of writing letters for me in my handwriting exist? I'd even fork over 100 million cents for such a pen..."

Even then it'd be very cheap, if only it releases me from all the letter writing.

"Nothing like that exists. Since we have also hired a new retainer who knows the rules and etiquettes about writing letters like these, I will have him write up a master text. Then you just need to transcribe it, milord."

"Even that alone is already a major pain in the ass... would it be wrong to get that retainer to write those letters on my behalf?"

"Yes, it would be wrong. If someone were to find out about it, you would be harshly criticized by the nobles for looking down on them."

It sounds like it's forbidden to have others write letters to nobles on your behalf. In the end, I spent a full week writing letters of thanks in the mornings and doing public work in the afternoons.

* * *

"The most bothersome work for nobles is writing letters. I've had my share of hardships with that part as well."

"Therese, you don't have the special skill of being able to copy my handwriting by chance, do you?"

"It pains me to tell thou, but no. Also, I'm busy taking care of Flora. I could come up with the content of the letters, but thou have a retainer for that, right?"

Therese had become something similar to my unofficial mistress, but she's nursing the babies together with Elise and the others without anyone minding it.

"Can't it be somehow handled with magic? Lisa, do you know of any spells like that?"

"If it's writing that uses exactly identical handwriting, you could use the spell 『Copy』, but..."

It looks like there are records of magicians using spells to create copies of text by making magic move the pen. It's something I hear of for the first time, but as might be expected, a veteran like Lisa knows that kind of magic as well.

"...Since it's an exact copy, you can't use it as a letter of thanks..."

The annoying part is the need to slightly alter the text to match the noble you're sending the letter to. Given that high-ranking nobles find it a chore to always come up with the proper text, they have retainers handling this part for them. Usually those retainers are involved with drawing up documents to be used for the ruling of the territory and such, but this also gives each high-ranking noble an individual, identifiable literary style.

Even at times when sending documents and reports to the Kingdom, you have to follow certain rules in regards to the literary style and form when dealing with the government. This makes those retainers experts who are capable of writing the necessary texts while being aware of all these rules. You can easily call them sophisticated technocrats because the government won't even deal with you, if you use different literary rules and forms.

Of course they receive a high wage, so poor nobles have to handle it somehow by learning all these things themselves.

"Indeed, if it got exposed that thou sent out a completely identical text after just changing the name, it'd become a huge disgrace for the family. That part is also the same in the Empire."

"Again!? What the hell!?"

"It's something unthinkable for my place. I mean, my old man and bro don't ever send letters to other nobles anyway. Hubby, my family sent us some maroimo as a present, so let's steam them. I'm hungry!"

"Oh, something sweet? Great idea!"

"Right? I'm going to steam them right away."

In the end I somehow managed to write all the letters of thanks, but the best presents we've got from among all the congratulatory gifts were the maroimo from Katia's home and the 『Assorted Set of Seasonal Ingredients』 from Duke Mizuho.

* * *

"Uh-huh, it's a nice view. Eight babies all at once, huh?"

Once the whole gift ordeal came to an end, we were next visited by people wanting to see the babies' faces.

"Your Majesty, it was not really necessary for you to personally visit..."

What caused the biggest uproar was His Majesty visiting Baulburg while bringing along His Highness the Crown Prince, Doushi, Minister Rückner, Minister Edgar, and Margrave Breithilde. After suddenly contacting me through the MHCD to inform me that they'd come over, the group teleported to Baulburg with a magician provided by Minister Edgar.

The big shots all enter the baby park in groups, and break out in smiles of relief as soon as they spot my children. But, I do understand: These adults are scheming something stupid again.

No matter how high-ranking the noble, it's common sense for them to personally visit the royal palace to present their heir to His Majesty.

"Elise, it's a pleasure to see that you gave birth to a healthy-looking heir."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"He does resemble Earl Baumeister."

His Majesty congratulates Elise first.

"Your Majesty, I assume your schedule must be full..."

"Oh, now that you mention it. But as a matter of fact, I have a little request for you, Earl Baumeister."

"What might it be?"

"Actually—"

—I became speechless after hearing the details of His Majesty's request.

* * *

"Well, I could have expected as much, but still..."

I lamented at the absurdity of this world as I was in no position to decline the request.

Once His Majesty stated his wish, he returned to the royal palace through the magician's 『Teleport』 together with the other ministers, resulting in only Margrave Breithilde remaining behind to console me.

"Why assign a fiancé to a baby who was just born?"

"I also feel that it's a bit overhasty, it's not like it's unusual either. Since it's going to be a marriage between nobility and royalty, the patriarchs usually decide on their own accord."

"You might say that, but Margrave Breihilde, you also..."

"We're equal on that part, aren't we? You're going to marry my cute Philine once she becomes an adult, after all."

"Ugh! That's unfair!"

"It's because you're special, Earl Baumeister. Once you learn that the children and their descendants are going to definitely become magicians, it's only natural to wish to marry into your family."

For now it's been decided that Elise's son and heir, Friedrich, is going to marry royalty as his first wife. It looks like the fiancée is set to be the Crown Prince's daughter who was just born recently. Even though the birth of a child in the family of the crown prince should have usually caused a huge uproar, I haven't even heard any rumors about it. Is it maybe because it's a girl?

Friedrich got an older wife without having to patiently search for a good spouse. Then again, they aren't that far apart since she's just 1 year old right now.

"Friedrich's wife is going to be a royal princess, huh...?"

"We're talking about His Majesty here, so she'll receive proper education. It'd be a tragedy if she wouldn't be able to give birth to any children after the marriage because she's hated by her husband..."

If it's a normal marriage between nobility and royalty, it's enough as long as it serves as a tie between the two houses. However, since she won't be able to give birth to any magicians if she doesn't sleep with Friedrich, the royal family wouldn't send over a girl who's going to garner Friedrich's dislike, Margrave Breithilde explains.

"Ina is so shaken that you can actually only pity her..."

"Well, if you consider the mother's social status, it'd usually be impossible..."

My eldest daughter Anna has been set to become the first wife of the crown prince's eldest son. In other words, she's going to be the wife of the future crown prince. Her spouse-to-be seems to be three years as of yet, but with things having suddenly taken such a turn, Ina looks completely lost.

"So His Highness actually had a son?"

"Milord, most of the nobles ask the same for some reason, but yes, he has."

Because of his duty as house manager, Roderich knew about the crown prince's heir. This means the succession line is set for the Kingdom, but I wonder what to think about parent and child lacking presence so much?

"It's impossible when considering the mother's social status, though."

"If the father is you, Earl Baumeister, it's possible..."

Since I don't have a daughter that was born by my first wife, Elise, the daughters born by my mistresses and other wives are going to be turned into pieces for political marriages. However, it seems to be a custom for the girls to be formally adopted by the first wife before that.

"The girl of a commoner's wife as the first wife of the future king is clearly abnormal..."

If you consider the merit of the royal family being able to obtain magicians with that, it means it's not a problem to ignore an issue of such a level, huh?

"You can say the same for us as well."

My second daughter, Luise's Elsa, is going to become the first wife of Margrave Breithilde's heir. It looks like there was another fiancée, but that had been called off. It's something that appears to happen often, but I'd hate it if we earned the resentment of nobles who had their engagement revoked because of us.

"There's a little difference in age, but please don't worry since our family will cherish her."

Margrave Breithilde isn't a bad guy, and if you consider the benefit of my daughter giving birth to a magician, I'd like to trust him that his family won't mistreat her.

"Or rather, it's not like we're some auction market, you know..."

Katharina's Cayenne, my second son, is going to marry a girl from Minister Rückner's family as his first wife since he's going to become the next Associate Baron Waigel. My fourth-born daughter, Wilma's Irene, is going to marry the son of Minister Edgar's heir, and Katia's Hilde, my fifth-born daughter, is going to become the first wife of the heir's son of the Earl Armstrong House. And lastly, Lisa's daughter, my sixth-born, is set to marry the son of Doushi's eldest son.

I had no room to intervene in this as His Majesty and his retinue decided for it to be so all by themselves. On top of that, it was a done deal in less than ten minutes. My pitiable children's marriage was decided just like the auction sale of a thoroughbred's foals.

"Sorry, my dear daughters. You can come back home anytime if you hate the family you're marrying into..."

I speak to the cribs with my daughters while shedding tears.

"Dear, they don't understand you yet. For now we should focus on letting them grow up healthily without worrying about such things."

Elise gently addresses me so as to console me.

I'm really grateful for her kindness right now.

"Ugh... Katharina, Lisa, I'll have you start with the children's magic training as soon as possible. All so that they can blow away their husbands if they hate them."

I tell the two, who are excellent magicians, to hasten with the training for the children. I mean, my daughters should simply be able to resolve matters with magic if they get maltreated by the families of their husbands.

"Don't you think that's a somewhat questionable behavior for nobility, Wendelin-san?"

"I totally understand your feelings on this, but..."

Katharina and Lisa look at me with astounded expressions.

"So it did turn out as expected... it's the same for me as well."

Therese lives together with my wives despite being my unofficial mistress. One could easily imagine that no Kingdom noble would try to set up an engagement with her daughter, but she still held a huge amount of letters in her hands. All of the senders were Empire nobles.

"They sure did well to have learned so quickly about you having born Flora, Therese."

"Both countries expanded their business connections after agreeing on a peace. I'm fairly certain that they've learned of this through merchants."

"Come on, what are you doing, Alfons...?"

With the Duke Philip House in the lead, many nobles such as the Duke Mizuho House and the Duke Baden House sent letters asking for my third daughter's hand in marriage. I feel dizzy from just looking at the sheer amount.

"Isn't your daughter a rather hot iron when it comes to politics in the Empire?"

"It might be a problem if we're talking about me in person, but Flora isn't me."

"Has it been leaked that she's a magician?"

"No, I think they simply want to form a marriage bond with a Kingdom noble. Wendelin, thou made a name for thineself during the civil war, but thine territory is located far in the south. They might consider thou the perfect party for such ties since thou won't be able to interfere with politics over in the Empire much. The advantage in business also plays a big role."

Therese predicts that my genetic heredity of the magician trait shouldn't have been exposed to the Empire's side as of yet.

"Though they might think that it's odd in some way..."

"What? No way!"

"It's nothing thou will be able to hide for thine entire life. It'll be clear as soon as people learn that all the children fathered by thou are magicians. If thou hate the idea of having it exposed so much, thou have no choice but to live a life of abstinence from now on."

"That's something I'd hate."

I'm no ascetic monk, so I do have normal, sexual desires.

"Honesty is a wonderful trait, Wendelin."

"Also, His Majesty emphasized it as well, didn't he?"

"Indeed..."

We were told the same by Margrave Breithilde, but His Majesty left after saying at the end, 『Everyone, let alone two or three children, feel free to keep giving birth to Earl Baumeister's children, be it five or even ten children』. It was a demand for many children at a level you wouldn't be able to expect in modern Japan where the government worries about the declining birthrate.

"But, this is also His Majesty's kindness. If someone else were to be king, things could be a lot worse. After all, they might have sent all the royal women of marriageable age over to your place," Margrave Breithilde explains. "He could push them onto you, telling you to focus on impregnating them without a care whether they're treated as servants or as simple practice partners since their children wouldn't have any succession rights anyway."

"That sounds awful..."

"The royal family is that kind of a place. If it's just at the level of a marriage with your daughter, you might as well regard it as kindness."

Seeing how the stability of the Helmut Kingdom guarantees peace for the masses, something at the level of turning me into a studhorse would be a small price to pay for the Kingdom.

"I understand. But, my daughters..."

For their marriages to have been completely decided right after their birth...

"I can relate since I have Philine, but you'll get angry anyway even if your daughter says that she wants to marry the man she loves."

"You might have a point there..."

'Dad, I want to marry this man.'

Yep, I'd definitely feel like beating the guy up. That means Margrave Breithilde also has complicated feelings about handing over Philine in a few years.

"Then again, it's also a problem if things develop like with my aunt..."

"Ah, I totally forgot about her..."

"Since business has improved recently, she's become as noisy as a child, telling me that she wants this and that. And yet that woman doesn't even earn any money herself..."

"Is that so?"

"Looking after that person... it'd also be a pain if she were to be sent back right away..."

For some reason, the latter part of our conversation has turned into Margrave Breithilde's grumbling.

Either way, you could only call it cynical that our daily lives became peaceful as a result of my newborn children's fiancés having been decided upon. It was unthinkable that His Majesty and the high-ranking nobles would prattle about my secret to other nobles, and because they'd immediately prevent other nobles drawing close to the Baumeister family even if my special trait got exposed, our peaceful lives are going to be guaranteed by them.

To be honest, I do feel conflicted about how to think of this.

* * *

There's no point in worrying about something that has already been decided.

"Time to put my feelings behind me and move on to do my best as their father!"

I continue performing my work as family head of the Baumeister House, teach Agnes and the other two as their master, and develop my territory. Meanwhile Elise and my other wives take care of the babies and train themselves for the sake of returning as active adventurers. But then again, it's ultimately just to be ready so that they can return as adventurers at any time since they might end up pregnant in no time again.

And right now I'm trying to assertively participate in the baby care. It's what was called 『a man who enjoys child rearing』 in my previous life. Since I'm busy as well, the range I can do is limited.

"Friedrich, you're a good boy."

I've ordered a baby sling, which didn't exist in this world so far, in the city of Baulburg. It's not the old type where you carry the child on the back, but the one where you carry the baby in front of you.

Because the craftsman immediately made one for me once I explained the idea behind it, I'm currently using the sling to carry Friedrich around. I rock him while making sounds with a pellet drum I had the same craftsman make for me as well.

"Aww, you've got lots of fun, don't you Friedrich?"

"Uwauu~"

I humor my son in the mansion's garden while carrying him in the sling that holds his head up.

"...Vel, what are you doing?"

"Can't you tell? I'm playing with Friedrich."

"Even though you're a guy?"

The thinking that baby care is a woman's work is prevalent in this world. It's especially widespread in the countryside. Eru stares at me playing with Friedrich as if he's discovered a mysterious life-form.

"Eru, I'm a new noble."

"Well, you're an upstart, yeah."

"And as a new noble I'll show society a new common sense that it might be fine for men to also take care of babies!"

No matter which world, common sense is something that someone started at some point which then got imitated for a long time by everyone else. In other words, I'll succeed with this mission if other nobles copy me after seeing me take care of my babies.

"Such a way of thinking existed as well?"

"Eru, Haruka might get a better opinion of you if you take care of Leon, too."

Women like men who help around the house and with child rearing.

"Okay, then I'll do it as well..."

Eru tries to head over to the nursery to take care of Leon, but someone stops him from doing that.

"Milord..."

The party pooper was Roderich.

"Oooh, Roderich, I'm aiming to be a new type of noble."

"It is fine without you aiming for something like that. Now listen, milord, you are a personage who draws the attention of society. Even if it might be your own child, for you to personally take care of babies..."

Afterwards I had to listen to Roderich's sermon for a while. The main gist was about how the patriarch of a noble family is supposed to take care of his babies.

"That's quite the serious problem... for the change of a new era to be prevented by old customs..."

"You are free to think of it as you wish, but taking care of babies is not supposed to be done by you, milord."

It looks like this touches upon proper conduct for nobles.

"Roderich, your thinking is so outdated despite us being close in age. Very well, this calls for different opinions."

I return to the nursery with the strong anticipation that Elise and the others would understand my standpoint.

However, I got immediately scolded by Elise.

"Dear, we shall take care of Friedrich's wellbeing."

Even though I had the rare chance to finally carry around Friedrich, Elise immediately snatches him away.

"You see, I wanted to go with a new image that Earl Baumeister personally takes care of his own babies..."

"I do not think of this as a good idea."

Elise completely denies my idea right off the bat. Are there no women in this world who'd feel grateful if men helped them with childcare?

"No good?"

"No good. Childcare is a woman's job."

How weird... are there no opinions claiming that men should participate in childcare?

"Ina."

"It's no good. Childcare is our job."

It's not like I'm planning to take away their work or anything like that. I just wanted to help out a bit...

"Vel, once they've grown a bit bigger, we can take them out somewhere together."

"It's as Luise says. Vel-sama, you're in the center of public attention at the moment."

I'm also shot down by Luise and Wilma.

"Wendelin-san, a true noble won't bother himself with baby care."

"Hubby, this is how the work between men and women has been divided for eons."

I haven't expected to hear much else from Katharina who's obsessed about nobility, but even Katia tells me off.

"Thou won't find any noble men taking care of their babies in the Empire either."

"Female magicians usually hire babysitters because they have the financial leeway. The sorcery guild can introduce you to the servant guild in such cases."

Therese and Lisa also seem to be against me joining the childcare.

"With this out of the way, Vel-kun, be a good boy and just watch how we handle things."

"Okay..."

In the end, I was even admonished like a little child by Amalie-san.

For the women to have such deep-rooted resistance against this concept... it made me realize once more that you have to change the common sense if you're going to change the world.

* * *

"Milord, this baby sling is marvelous. Let us proceed towards mass production right away."

However, Roderich apparently found a liking with the baby sling I had custom-made for Friedrich, deciding that we're going to spread it in the Kingdom.

Chapter 03: Wendelin Making Merry?

"Daa——"

"No kidding. It's terrible that everyone already has a fiancé despite you just having been born a little while ago, right? Daddy is going to do his utmost to protect all of you."

"Auu——"

"I'm totally with you. Please leave everything to Daddy."

"Hey, Vel, what are you blathering about all by yourself with a baby who can't speak yet?"

As I'm talking with my children early in the morning before heading out to do public works, Eru butts in for some reason. What kind of stupid stuff is he asking me when he just became a father himself?

"Now listen Eru, although they don't seem to say anything but 『Daa——』 or 『Auu——』 at first glance, there's actually a deep and profound meaning hidden in those noises. I can tell since I'm their father."

"Isn't that just what you've arbitrarily decided...?"

"How rude."

"I mean, they're babies, so how about waiting a little bit longer? Sooner or later they'll become able to speak properly..."

Ever since he became a father, Eru has started to prattle about awfully common things. Oh, I see, it looks like parents also grow up when they have children.

"Putting that aside, it's about time."

"I don't really want to go, but Daddy must do his best."

After not only bidding farewell to my children, but also my wives, I'm about to leap with 『Teleport』 to the construction site while taking Eru along as guard, but just then I hear a ruckus from the entry area of our mansion.

"Eru, what's going on?"

"No clue. How about we go take a look?"

"Okay, let's go."

When we head over to the main gate of the Baumeister mansion which has nowadays become something akin to a little fortress, I spot the guards having an argument with a young man who appears to be a noble.

I feel like I've witnessed something similar in the past... I guess that's what people call deja vu.

"We can't let you through without a prior appointment!"

"Please show some flexibility! I'm the eldest son of the Baron Benneken House — Frot-sama!"

"Adding 『-sama』 to your own name?"

Eru snickers at the statement of the self-alleged eldest son of the Baron Benneken House.

For me it's also the first time to encounter a noble son who refers to himself with -sama.

"No matter what kind of social standing you might have, a sudden meeting is impossible! You have to first make an appointment!"

The young man tries to force his way onto the grounds of my mansion, and the guards hinder him from doing so. Since I haven't heard anything about a meeting from Roderich, this guy must be trying to to get in on his own volition. In other words, an uninvited guest.

"You cannot stop someone of noble birth like me. Step aside!"

"Young master! We shall help you!"

"Push in!"

Frot attempts to force his way while being assisted by three attendants. The guards blow a pipe to call for reinforcements while preventing the four men's intrusion by pushing them back. Because this situation continues for a while, I show myself to Frot since I've already come out anyway.

"I'm Earl Baumeister. Do you have some business with us?"

"Ooohh! Earl Baumeister-dono! My name is Frot Rogel von Benneken, the eldest son of the Baron Benneken House."

Frot greets me in accordance to etiquette.

It looks like he's got at least that much common sense left.

"So, what kind of business do you have to come here without even getting an appointment?"

My tone unconsciously becomes somewhat harsh. A plethora of nobles, merchants, and commoners want to meet with me. Since Roderich carefully selects the people who are allowed to do so, it's possible that I'll unnecessarily increase incidents like this one if I allow people to bypass the formal approach.

Knowing about this, Eru snaps at me, "It's a bad idea for you to come out in such a situation."

"Eru, don't be such a stickler for rules... this is going to be an exception among exceptions. Now then, hurry up and tell me what you want."

"I'm extremely honored. Let me get straight to the point without hiding anything then! Please allow your daughter to become my wife!"

"Huh?"

At first I couldn't quite understand what this guy was talking about.

"Daughter?"

"They were born just the other day, weren't they? Of course I'm going to wait until they grow up, father-in-law."

"Haaah?"

A guy, who's obviously older than me, calls me father-in-law. As I gradually grasp the meaning of his words after the initial shock has passed, I'm starting to get close to exploding due to the anger welling up within me.

"Father-in-law, please, you can leave one of your daughters to me with a peace of mind."

"—Die, you bloody lolicon!!"

At last I completely snap at Frot. I blow him, alongside his servants, away from the gate with powerful explosion magic while keeping it at a non-fatal level.

"Milord."

"Put them into jail for a while."

"At once, milord!"

They enjoyed a life in a nice place made out of stone until Baron Benneken, Frot's father, came to pick them up. Baron Benneken's face was ghastly pale when he came to get Frot after hearing what happened. I heard that he later disinherited his eldest son, but I had absolutely nothing to do with that.

It looks like Frot made quite a few enemies among the important people of the Kingdom. Though it's not like I knew about the details.

* * *

"Bloody hell, every last of them..."

I ended up running into a retard early in the morning, but then started to do construction work to calm down. Given that the number of immigrants has been continuously growing recently, the earldom is busy with foundation works for residential lands, farmland, and roads.

"What was the aim of that dumb noble anyway?"

"The real situation shouldn't have been exposed, right?"

My daughters have been taken by the royal family and high-ranking noble houses, but the information about their engagement is confidential. Those big-shots are also completely blocking any information about my children being guaranteed to become magicians. If you consider that the competitors will only grow in number if this information is exposed, I can trust them to keep it that way.

"I suppose he's simply followed the plan to get support by becoming a relative to the affluent Earl Baumeister House."

"Figures."

Otherwise, it'd be unthinkable for a man beyond 20 years in age to propose marriage to a baby, no matter which world it might be.

* * *

Elise and the others have been training to get back in shape for working as adventurers again after their birth, but it's very likely that they'll go on maternity leave soon again since they're being insistently told by their surroundings to give birth to more children as soon as possible.

I mean this world has no politicians loudly clamoring that women are no baby-making machines.

"I guess this means we won't be able to form an adventurer party for a good while, huh?"

"Looks like it..."

"Should we occasionally go hunting together with Doushi and Burkhart-san, Eru?"

"A party consisting of only men? Sounds nice."

Eru looks very happy. He's probably thinking that he can totally cut loose when his wife isn't around.

"Sensei, I'll jump in as a helper as well."

"I'll do my best as well."

"Me too."

Today Agnes, Betty, and Cindy are also helping with the construction work which simultaneously counts as magic training. Hearing Eru's and my conversation, they offer to join the party.

"Thanks, but for Cindy and Betty it has to wait until you've become adults."

"It sure looks like they're going to immediately take maternity leave after becoming adults, and we'll be short on members again—"

"—Hah!"

"Ouch!?"

I let Eru experience an elbow strike for looking at my cute pupils with evil eyes. And here I'm not even looking like that at those three...

"Sensei, did Eru-san do something just now?"

"Don't worry, it was just one of his usual, stupid antics."

"Is that so?"

Agnes asks me for the reason why I hit Eru, but I simply give her some suitable, evasive reply.

On that day we safely finish our scheduled construction work, and just as I'm getting ready to head back home, Cindy brings up a request with me.

"Sensei, is it okay for me to have a look at your babies?"

"Sure."

"I want to come with you as well."

"Me too."

In the end Agnes and Betty are going to come along as well, but having heard their request, Eru couldn't resist running his mouth once again.

"Studying in preparation for the time when they're going to give birth themselves, eh—"

"—Hah!"

"Ouch!?"

And just like before, I sink my elbow into Eru's flank.

* * *

"""Madam, long time no see."""

"Oh, the pupils? Indeed, we haven't seen each other since back then, have we?"

When I bring the trio into the mansion since they wanted to see the babies, Elise and my other wives greet them with broad smiles.

"Elise-sama, we're visiting to take a look at the babies."

"Elise-sama, it is very enviable how you have already returned to your previous beauty despite having born a child a little while ago."

"Someone like me is immediately in a pinch if I nibble on a bit too many sweets..."

"Thank you. But, it won't be that simple to return to before."

Elise doesn't seem to be against being praised by the trio.

But they're right. Even though not that many days have passed since Elise gave birth, her figure has mostly returned to normal. I might not know whether it's the completely same state as before the childbirth, but I'm sure the women of modern Japan would be jealous if they were to see Elise now.

"Long time no see, young ones."

"What young ones? You aren't that much older, and on top of that, Luise, you look much younger than them... ugehh!"

Eru makes a retort against Luise who's trying to act like an adult lady with the trio due to her childbirth, but she answers with an elbow strike which is much stronger than mine.

"We also had such a period in our lives."

"Why are you hitting your life counselor all of a sudden the... ugehh!"

Eru also makes a retort at Ina's comment, but ends up with yet another powerful elbow strike in response. I think Eru is the most eccentric one of us as he doesn't learn anything, even though he'd just need to stop running his mouth about unnecessary stuff.

"Hahaha! It's always a good idea to prepare for the future."

Seeing how some of my wives had already met the three in the past, they welcomed Agnes, Betty, and Cindy warmly.

"Come to think of it, you don't have any male pupils, do you?"

"Yeah, I've only seen girls."

"That's not how it is." I warn Luise and Ina just in case.

The students of the magician class I looked after are all my pupils, regardless of gender. It's not to the extent of the trio, but every once in a while one of them visits me to get some teaching in magic. It's just that Ina and Luise haven't been around at those times... I won't deny that I treat the trio preferentially, but that's because of the mana capacity.

Since most of my students are staying at the Demon Forest to work as adventurers, I think the trio stands out as they're the only ones learning public works magic from me...

"Excellent pupils are something you foster."

"Certainly, Wilma's and my mana capacities are lower than theirs."

Confirming anew that the trio's mana is already in the process of getting close to advanced level, Ina seems to understand my line of thinking.

"Which reminds me, how old are you girls?"

"I'm 15, Cindy is 13, and Betty is 14."

"Having bigger chests than me who gave birth despite being younger... how enviable..."

Luise sighs after comparing her chest with theirs.

Now that she mentions it, adding the factor of her having given birth, Luise's chest is... any further than that is dangerous!

"That's the part you worry about!?"

"Vel, tell me what else should I worry about? Amalie-san told me that my chest would grow when I become pregnant, but I don't really feel like that's come true..."

Since Luise's chest hasn't become any bigger in reality, I doubt you can explain this with anything but her genetic disposition at this point.

"Life has many ups and downs. That's all."

"Vel, don't you have a more tasteful way of comfort to offer?"

"If I could do anything about it with magic, I'd take every step necessary, but..."

I consider her to be adorable, but there's also her feelings on this to consider. If you could grow a chest with magic, I'd do so for her as soon as possible.

The magic in this world has the potential to have a lot of utility, depending on the magician's aptitude, but it still has many things it can't do.

"As I'm kinda doubtful about a chest that has been grown by magic, I think I'll pass."

Luise is basically quite carefree, so she immediately stops worrying about having no chest.

"I've heard the rumors, but sensei, all your wives really are magicians..."

"Agnes, the same can be said about sensei's babies, no?"

"All of them possess mana..."

A magician will recognize another magician. The trio becomes speechless when they look at the babies sleeping in their small beds as all of them have mana.

"Eh? Huh? Why!?"

"All of them... that's a bit..."

"Is this possibly..."

Among the three, Betty is the first to suspect something, obviously showing her agitation on her face.

"Betty, sshhh—"

"Huh? 'Sshhh—' you say?"

"In this world it's sometimes better to pretend to not know something."

Wilma, whose words always have an impact as she's usually a silent girl, warns Betty.

"『Today you just visited your magic teacher's babies, and went back home after spending some nice, harmonious time with them』 or 『Getting in on a little secret』; which do you prefer? However, the latter comes with strings attached."

"Secret..."

"If you choose the latter, it might be possible for you to become great magicians, but there'll be things you must not do. If you do them despite knowing that, your future life is going to become quite difficult."

"Sensei, your wife is scary..."

The three ponder about Wilma's question with meek expressions. The question clearly includes a threat as well, but they might become successful magicians if they choose to get in on the secret. It seems they're hesitating because of that temptation.

"Wilma, as expected, that way of phrasing is..."

"Vel-sama, this is no threat. It's ultimately just a deal."

Even though I brought the three along because they said they want to see the babies, things have suddenly developed in a fairly dangerous way for some reason. But Wilma assures me, who's bewildered, that it's no threat.

"Wendelin-san, you still have some naive parts. It'd be better to not casually show Friedrich and the other babies to other people since they're going to stumble upon a secret that's being hidden away by His Majesty and several high-ranking nobles."

"No, you see, I just wanted to comply with the wishes of my cute pupils..."

Katharina seems flabbergasted by my naivety, but in my previous life it was normal for relatives and friends to come over to visit newborns. I also made such visits while bringing gifts along on several occasions.

"Weren't you frightened that the secret might get exposed when it came to this morning's matter with the stupid noble youth? It was quite careless of you, hubby."

"Being told that... for me to overlook something even Katia has realized..."

"Uwah, just what are you taking me for, hubby!?"

But they're right. I must be quite careful until all my children grow up into adults since they all have the qualifications of magicians. No matter how cute my pupils might be, it might have been careless of me to show my children to them.

"Hubby, I admit that I caused you trouble with my weird actions back when we met for the first time, but isn't that way too terrible of you?"

"You're right, I'm sorry, Katia."

I apologize to Katia for having brought up a matter of the past.

"Do you want to hug the babies since you came all the way here anyway?"

"""Yes!"""

At this point Lisa suggests to the trio that they could hug the babies as if to follow up on her former pupil, Katia. Nothing less of an mature lady, or rather, it's unbelievable for her to be the same person as her past self, if you consider the heavy make-up and flashy outfit when we first met.

"""Thank you very much."""

Seeing how the trio keeps acting somewhat meek towards Lisa even while thanking her, Lisa's popularity when she ran around dressed in her gaudy outfit and her eccentric words and conduct seem to have been quite well-known. Given that Agnes knows this kind of information in detail, she might have cautioned the other two before coming here.

"You hold them like this."

"Whoa, a baby is so warm."

"How adorable. I feel like wanting one as well."

"I wonder which I'd prefer, a boy or a girl. Hmm."

After being taught by Amalie-san how to hold the babies, Agnes picks up Friedrich, Cindy picks up Anna, and Betty picks up Elsa; all three smiling.

"You're going to become mothers soon anyway... fugeeh!"

I drive an elbow strike into Eru's flank since he's said something unnecessary again.

"Sensei, these children... considering they're babies..." Agnes hesitates to speak up.

My children have a lot more mana than any of the famous magicians during their babyhood. Burkhart-san said the same when he previously came over to visit Friedrich and the other children.

However, no matter how much mana they might have, it's no more than elementary when judged by adult magician standards. Just when I thought that it's nothing requiring so much attention...

"Auu——"

"What's wrong, Friedrich-chan? Eh!?"

Since Friedrich seems somewhat unhappy, Agnes cuddles him affectionately, but in the next instant, a small 『Fireball』 is released from the tip of Friedrich's finger. Fortunately no one stands in the flight path of the 『Fireball』, but it left a burn mark after hitting the wall.

"Oh, he fired a spell despite being a baby! That's my son for you!"

Even though he's just been born recently, it sure looks like he's got a bright future ahead of him.

"Give it a rest with being such an overly doting father! This is a bit of a problem, man!"

"Really? It didn't have that much firepower, did it?"

Eru is exaggerating. Since Friedrich is still a baby, the firepower of the fireball was very weak. In short, the firepower falls drastically as long as he doesn't use a wand since he's still at elementary level. But that's no real problem since it's a baby's job to sleep most of the time.

"Dude... it's dangerous for the caretakers, isn't it? Don't expect a baby to control the spells it fires, geeze!"

"Hmm, that makes sense... no, it's not like I haven't considered this."

At present it's only Friedrich who's released magic. It'll be no problem if we limit his care-taking to magicians. Babies sleep all day long anyway.

"I just have to look after him as well!"

I can easily detect when Friedrich is going to release magic from the movements of his mana. This time it was unexpected because Agnes is still inexperienced as a magician herself.

"Don't try to use the confusion to install yourself as a member of the childcare group!"

"I'm a noble who's going to establish a new common sense for nobility!"

I just thought this is a great chance to give birth to nobles who take care of their own children...

"—No, that is not allowed."

Elise immediately shoots it down with a smile, trying to protect the old customs.

"I think some kind of countermeasure is necessary, my dear husband."

"You mean like taking care of it with tools that block magic or some such?"

I bring up the idea I came up with on the spot in response to Lisa's suggestion. If it's Friedrich's current level of magic, it should be possible to somehow handle it with items.

"No, something like that might not enough."

"Not enough?"

At first I didn't understand what Lisa was trying to tell me.

"I think Friedrich is going to be in this situation until he reaches a certain age. The incidents are going to increase in number from now on too. If he continues to unconsciously release magic every day, his mana capacity will grow, and the spells' firepower should rise as well. The cheapest countermeasure would be..."

She advocates for a fundamental solution since the firepower and frequency of magic would only keep increasing as Friedrich and the other babies grow up.

"There's one more issue."

"Hmm? What would that be, Therese?"

"Right now it's just Friedrich, but the other children, including my Flora, have roughly the same amount of mana as Friedrich. In other words, it's quite possible that the number of babies unconsciously releasing mana is going to increase from now on."

"I see! As expected of my children!"

"Thou think this is the right time to revel in admiration...?"

Maybe as a reaction to Therese's words, I suddenly sense how mana circulates, just as it does before a spell is being released. Moreover, it's not just coming from Anna, who's in Cindy's arms, and Elsa, who's in Betty's arms, but also from my other children.

"Daddy is moved by the close relationship between you siblings."

After all, it'd be pitiful for a child to be the only one left out because it can't use magic.

"You idiot! Now's not the time to blather such carefree nonsense! Run!!"

Eru retrieves his son Leon from his crib and evacuates the room together with Haruka as well as the other maids who are holding the other babies. And immediately following that, my other children, except for Friedrich who's now sleeping peacefully after having used magic earlier, unleash their magic all at once.

"『Waterball』, 『Wind Blade』, making the crib float with 『Telekinesis』, huh? In addition, there's also 『Fire Pillar』, 『Ice Sphere』, and 『Tornado』. But, the firepower of all spells is still quite lacking, I'd say."

"Sensei, I don't think that's the issue here..."

"The damage is rather insignificant, but it'll become tough if they continue doing this every day."

"It's indispensable to set up some countermeasures, yep."

I'm extremely happy that all my children possess a magic talent, but it looks like we must adopt some measure so that they won't trouble their caretakers and other people.

That's the conclusion I've reached inside the nursery that's become slightly devastated.

* * *

"So that's why the sorcery guild, Lisa-sama?"

"Magicians who cannot control their mana because they have too much of it from early infancy are extremely rare, but I've heard that such cases exist. They say that there are magic tools capable of dealing with that."

"I'm hearing of this for the first time."

"It might become necessary for our children in the future, Lisa-sama."

"That probability is indeed rather high."

Friedrich and my other children are still babies, but them having too much mana which they can't control has created a problem. Currently, their magic casting is limited to once per day, but since they release the spell unconsciously, it'll be difficult to look after them.

Accordingly, for the sake of solving this problem by getting some magic tools, we've headed over to the sorcery guild in the capital through 『Teleport』. The trio, Lisa, and Therese are accompanying me. Lisa has been talking to my pupils with the nuance that it might be better for them to know about the possibility of this happening when they give birth to my children in the future.

"So it's already an established fact?"

"What are thou saying now after all this time? Let's go, Wendelin."

Therese declares as if it's a waste of time at this point to confirm that the trio is going to marry me in the future.

She forcibly pulls me along to the sorcery guild.

"Earl Baumeister? Did you grow tired of your first wives and got some new ones already?"

""""Humph!""""

"Ouff!"

At the sorcery guild we're greeted by Mr. Beckenbauer who can't read the mood as always, and thus earns himself a pummeling by Agnes and the others because of his unnecessary comment. I suspect this guy might actually like being beaten by women.

"So, what kind of business do you have with us?"

"It's about a 『Mana Absorption Device』 for children." Lisa answers in my stead.

"Aahh, that one, huh? We're not selling it at the store because it's on low demand as a magic tool that hasn't seen any technological advances for a long time now, so we're only lending it out here. We've got plenty of them in stock."

"Mana Absorption Device?"

"That's correct, Earl Baumeister's new mistress No. 1."

"Humph!"

"Uguh!"

"Who's a mistress here!?"

Adding another unnecessary comment to his answer of Agnes' question, she powerfully slaps his cheek.

It was obvious it'd turn out like that... if you ask why, the answer would be his personality, I guess?

"As the name of the 『Mana Absorption Device』 suggests, it's a device absorbing mana from the magician wearing it."

Once you insert an empty magic crystal into the device, the mana absorbed from the magic user will be stored in it, allowing to reuse it as energy source for magic tools.

"But, isn't that dangerous?"

If their mana gets drained every day, it's going to influence my children's growth, no?

"As far as I've understood, it sounds like your baby's mana seems to go out of control. The cases of children having too much mana, resulting in them unconsciously casting spells, are rare, but they do exist. The worry that stealing the child's mana in one go might have a negative influence on the child's growth has been discussed in the past as well. Given that such children definitely become excellent magicians in the future, society cannot afford to lose them through some stupid blunder in their childhood. Thus the 『Mana Absorption Device』 has gone through various improvements to avoid such harm over time. Because the mana is extracted very slowly, the child doesn't feel any discomfort when their mana fills up completely, and naturally stops feeling the need to cast magic," Mr. Beckenbauer explains.

"Children... and especially babies feel uncomfortable when their mana hits the capacity limit, making it impossible for them to sleep."

Babies and children up to three years, who spend a lot of time sleeping for the sake of growing, have their sleep disturbed if they cap out on mana. And thus they apparently try to get their sleep by unconsciously releasing magic to get rid of that disturbance.

I guess that's the reason why Friedrich and the others immediately fell asleep after releasing their magic.

"It's fine if you take as many as you need with you. Of course you'll be charged a rental fee, though."

"That's very welcome, but is it alright to put a 『Mana Absorption Device』 on a baby?"

"No need to worry, Earl Baumeister's mistress No. 2."

Old man, sooner or later you're really going to lose your job because of all of your verbal gaffes.

"Huh? Therese, you aren't angry at him?"

"Something of this degree can be labeled as a slightly sarcastic undertone, don't thou think? The 『Mana Absorption Device』 is what matters now."

That's an elder, experienced lady for you, huh? She doesn't care about Mr. Beckenbauer's remark at all.

"Who's old!? Isn't thine remark actually far worse, Wendelin?"

...Why was Therese able to hear my internal voice?

"It looks like this."

Mr. Beckenbauer shows us a 『Mana Absorption Device』 , but it's smaller than I imagined. The hole right in the middle seems to be the slot for inserting the empty magic crystal.

"Since the device is very small as you can see, it can also be attached to baby clothes. Once the magic crystal fills up, this part is going to shine, so you won't forget to install a new, empty magic crystal."

Somehow, it's just like a device that's run by chargeable batteries.

"Since you can use the accumulated mana for magic tools, it should balance out even if you have to pay a rental fee."

The rental fee for a 『Mana Absorption Device』 is quite expensive, but the part about being able to use the absorbed mana is really cool. The Baumeister Earldom possesses many magic tools, so we won't have any problem with finding use for the accumulated mana.

"Still, I must say you're renting quite a big number there. Well, it's not like we're short on them, so I don't mind, but..."

Even though he's noticed that all my children possess mana, Mr. Beckenbauer doesn't make any reckless statements unlike usual.

Is he capable of accomplishing his current job because he doesn't make mistakes where it counts?

"Recently the number of people borrowing these devices has been very low. It's going to be alright even if you keep them for a while."

"I see."

Come to think of it, I've heard that the birth rate of magicians with lots of mana has been gradually declining in recent years. I guess the sorcery guild also pins its hopes on my children.

"But then again, it's also true that no one would usually borrow that many. Since you'll likely have a lot more children with your wives, including mistresses No. 1 to 5 over here, it'd be a hassle to rent them out each and every single time. Mistress No. 6 and above, who aren't present right now, need to do their best as well."

"""""As said previously, who's a mistress here!?"""""

However, with him saying something unnecessary at the end again, Mr. Beckenbauer ends up buried by a storm of slaps. Having said that, I didn't feel the slightest will to help him since all of it has been his own fault.

* * *

"Sensei, everyone's mana has settled down."

"Such a device existed as well, huh?"

"They are sleeping so peacefully."

After attaching the 『Mana Absorption Devices』 to the clothes of Friedrich and the others, all of them have started to sleep peacefully, looking as though feeling relieved.

I didn't know that babies would accumulate stress from losing sleep over not having used their capped mana. Given that such a problem apparently wouldn't crop up with a low amount of mana, this might be another part of their fate after having been born as my children.

"I am happy to see that this problem has been resolved now, milord."

"Roderich, you seem oddly cheerful about it..."

It appears as if there's another reason for him to be glad besides the resolution of the mana discharge problem.

"Have you forgotten, milord? Weren't we going to install street lights at key points of Baulburg?"

"Ah, I remember something along those lines."

Because Baulburg has started to become lively during the night as well, we've introduced mana-based street lighting. The main energy source is the panel that absorbs mana from the air. That panel had been attached to the dragon golem we fought in the underground ruin when we debuted as adventurers.

As the magic tool guild has become capable of producing as many as you like, we've apparently started to introduce them to a part of the Baumeister Earldom.

"Are you possibly planning to use the mana of my babies? But, as long as we have that panel, there's no real need to replenish mana for the street lamps from elsewhere, is there?"

"That is... it looks like that panel has lost some of its performance when compared to the original..."

With the magic tool guild seemingly having grasped that part as well, they've added the function to replenish mana through magic crystals.

"Given that Baulburg has also started to prosper at night at long last, it is preferable for the street lamps to work reliably. Therefore it is a blessing that milord's children can supply mana at such an early age."

"Hey, hey..."

Roderich, are you planning to even exploit my children for the development of the territory?

"I must admit, nothing less of you, milord. I would love to request a lot more children if possible."

Roderich, my children are no damn mana supply stations...

"Agnes-sama, Betty-sama, Cindy-sama, I am counting on your future efforts in the Baumeister Earldom."

"Please leave it to us, Roderich-sama."

"We're sensei's pupils after all."

"Indeed. We must put in more effort for sensei's sake."

"..."

Roderich and the trio seem to have reached some kind of agreement, even without voicing it out. The weird part about Roderich suddenly having started to add 『sama』 to their names... wait, that's not the point here! My children are no bloody power plants!

"They must fulfill their duty as noble descendants from the moment of their birth. Milord, your children will be regarded as genuine nobles. It would be great for their numbers to grow even further, I am sure."

"..."

In short, he's telling me to make more children, huh...?

Even a lord's children must strive for the sake of the territory's development. I gotta say, Roderich is much more suited to be a noble than me.

Chapter 04: Funeral and Pope Election

"It's wonderful to see such a lively boy. I'm certain he has a long life ahead of him."

The number of visitors to take a look at the newborns and hold them has increased. Today Cardinal Hohenheim has shown up, smiling brightly while holding Friedrich.

Seeing his smile, I can't imagine him to be the devil His Majesty makes him out to be.

"Elise, is your health holding up?"

"Yes, Grandfather."

"That's great to hear."

Since this world doesn't possess the field of gynecology, many women fall ill after childbirth. Cardinal Hohenheim has dispatched priests capable of healing in Elise's case, and Elise herself is an excellent healer as well, so there should be no need to worry on that front. And yet, Cardinal Hohenheim seems concerned about his granddaughter.

"Having a healthy heir is great news. Friedrich looks like he'll become a magnificent Earl Baumeister in the future."

If she had given birth to a girl, the pressure on Elise to bear another child would have been enormous. Cardinal Hohenheim appears to be relieved that his granddaughter didn't have to experience this.

"It's a pleasure to see that the other children are doing fine as well. It looks like they can be held up, so I think we should hold the true baptism for them soon."

If a child is born on this continent, it's a fixed custom for its parents to take it to a nearby church and get it baptized. Back at my parents' home, Meister-dono was responsible for the baptism ceremony.

Probably because I'm Earl Baumeister, my children will immediately receive the high-ranking, true baptism.

"I plan to entrust it to Fritz as the priest in charge of the true baptism, and Samuel as his assistant."

Fritz is the name of Elise's dad. He hasn't been appointed as cardinal yet, but he has a fairly high standing within the church. Given that one won't be nominated as cardinal below an age of 50, it's not like Elise's dad has issues with his career.

The church is an organization where the higher ranks are always clogged up because of the many old people belonging to it. Because it's an occupation anyone can perform as long as they can preach, unlike being a soldier in the army for example, people tend to delay their retirement by a lot.

Also, Samuel is the name of Elise's older brother. He's the next family head of the Viscount Hohenheim House after their father, and an important personage among the young folks of the church.

"Father and elder brother are going to do it?"

"Well, it's inevitable."

If they were to leave it to the wrong person, it'd have the potential that the secret about my children's mana would get leaked. That worry vanishes if the whole ceremony is performed by people related to Cardinal Hohenheim.

"But, Grandfather, will you not garner a lot of criticism if you do something like that?"

Cardinal Hohenheim is aiming to become the next pope. Elise seems to be worried that he might get blamed by his rivals if he bluntly favors his relatives on this.

"I don't particularly mind. I won't put my great-grandchild at risk. Besides, I've decided to not run for the position of pope."

"Is that alright with you, Grandfather?"

Cardinal Hohenheim becoming the pope should be the dearest wish of the Viscount Hohenheim House. Elise can't hide her surprise over him declaring that he won't run for this position anymore.

"I'm getting old as well. Also, it'll actually become a problem if I were to be pope. Because I'm the grandfather-in-law of your husband."

My heir Friedrich is going to marry a woman from the royal family, and my daughter Anna is going to become the wife of the next crown prince. If Cardinal Hohenheim were to become pope under these circumstances... people would become wary of him...

"Thank you very much for doing this out of concern for us."

"Never mind. It's natural for everyone to aim for the position of pope once they enter the church. But, after actually having watched the pope from close-by, I don't really feel all that eager to take that position."

Well, it certainly sounds like a tough job. Since you're always watched by others, even if you hate it, you cannot afford to fool around or blather drunkenly.

"Besides, son-in-law, you'll learn to understand that there's no true faith to be found the higher you climb in the ranks."

And yet I suppose it's impossible to get rid of the church since the people need some spiritual support. Cardinal Hohenheim, who has comprehended various things over the years, might be a religionist in the truest sense.

"I'll later inform you about the date for the baptism. After all, the true baptism must be carried out at the church headquarters."

Cardinal Hohenheom leaves his celebratory gifts behind, returning to the capital. Afterwards, the date was decided to be around a week later.

On the appointed day, I head to the capital with 『Teleport』, taking my wives and children along. Since the babies can already be held in arms, there's no issue with their mothers carrying them.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, Elise-sama, congratulations on the birth of your successor."

Once we arrive at Viscount Hohenheim's mansion with 『Teleport』, we're immediately greeted by Sebastian.

"For Earl Baumeister-sama and Elise-sama to have become parents means that I have grown old as well."

"Sebastian, you don't really look like you've changed, though."

"But you cannot win against age... is something I have started to think at some point."

And yet, Sebastian looks to me like the role model of a butler, as usual.

"Now, let us hurry and secretly head over to the church."

The true baptism is scheduled to be held so that as few other clergymen as possible learn of it. Sebastian leads us from the Hohenheim mansion, using back alleys.

"Is everyone except for those concerned completely excluded albeit it being a true baptism?"

"Yes, because it's troublesome in various ways."

It's possible that other church staff would tenaciously approach us about marriages, if they heard of the baptism. If such people were accompanied by excellent magicians, it'd immediately get exposed that all my children possess mana.

Given that Cardinal Hohenheim, a big shot within the church, is going to witness the baptism, no one will be able to fault it, even if it's carried out in private.

For these reasons, it's been decided to hold the baptism in absolute secrecy.

"Won't there be any complaints from the pope?"

"As for that... I hear that His Grace the Pope's health has recently deteriorated..."

"He's already quite advanced in age, after all."

"Well, he was already an old man when he was inaugurated."

Elise is worried about the pope's health whereas Eru believes it to not be strange for his condition to be bad, considering his advanced age.

"...Huh? Doesn't that mean it's a fairly precarious situation?"

"Please do not worry, Earl Baumeister-sama. His Grace is currently recuperating at a medical facility in the outskirts of the capital. Attracted by that, many of the church leaders have assembled in the outskirts as well."

Sebastian, telling me to not worry... it's a situation where it's possible that they must decide on a new pope, so I feel like it's anything but worry-free...

"Since Milord has no intent to become the next pope, those hoping to get lucky are very happily bustling around at the medical facility. Milord mentioned that this is convenient for us since they won't obstruct the baptism."

I can imagine that the church's top brass and the priests holding voting rights are moving about to campaign for themselves to be elected as next pope. I guess Cardinal Hohenheim plans to use that opportunity to get the true baptism for my children done.

After being led through the city by Sebastian, we enter the headquarters, but as everyone seems to really have gathered around the pope, we don't meet anyone over here.

"Son-in-law, this way."

We entered the sanctuary after getting guided there by Cardinal Hohenheim. Only Elise's dad and brother waited for us there.

"I'll watch. Sebastian, you may assist them."

Young apprentice priests are often employed as ceremonial assistants during a true baptism, but it looks like Sebastian is going to take care of that part today. Still, as might be expected of Sebastian. For him to be able to even perform such a ceremony; that's definitely different from what normal butlers are capable of.

"Just as I thought, my grandchild is such a cutie."

"Elise, thanks for the adorable nephew."

"Hurry up, Fritz, Samuel."

"I know without you telling me, Grandfather."

As Elise's dad and brother are looking at Friedrich, they end up cautioned by Cardinal Hohenheim.

"Then..."

The ceremony itself didn't take that much time, and everyone got baptized in less than 30 minutes. After it's finished, all that's left is to return to the Hohenheim mansion.

"Son-in-law, please spare me some of your time."

After seeing Elise and the rest of my family off, I head to a building within the headquarters I haven't entered so far after being invited by Cardinal Hohenheim. Once we enter, an old woman in a priest garb is waiting there for us.

"Sorry for calling you over today, Emily."

"I definitely hadn't expected for you to ask a favor from me."

"It was for the sake of making the true baptism of my great-grandchild succeed."

"You mean, in order to carry out the baptism in secret, right?"

"Son-in-law, many call me devil in society, but the person in front of me is a real devil."

"As usual, you completely lack any delicacy when it comes to women, don't you?"

Going by her appearance, I think she's a member of the church's top brass. Considering the way she deals with Cardinal Hohenheim, she should be a fairly high-ranking clergywoman.

"My son-in-law has little to nothing to do with the church. He has been cooperating with us, but he lacks any faith."

"Isn't that fine? Many people have actually been saved by Earl Baumeister-dono's benevolence. It's not unusual for nobles to talk big, but then fail on following up on donations."

Oka——ay, this is a conversation where either seems to probe the other's intention. It looks like I've been brought to some crazy place.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce her. This woman is Emily Kempfeldt. Like me, she's a cardinal."

"I've heard many rumors about you, Earl Baumeister-dono."

Emily seems to be of the same generation as Cardinal Hohenheim. Still, it's amazing for a woman to have reached the position of cardinal. The church has many female members, but the top brass is filled with nothing but men.

"Every once in a while you'll find a female cardinal, but they're rare. They must have luck and ability. Emily is blessed with both of them."

Is it okay to owe a favor for the baptism to such a person?

"Now then, if you ask why I've brought you here, son-in-law... it's for the sake of your children's safety. Please cooperate with us."

How's meeting her connected to the safety of my children?

"I guess I need to briefly explain the situation..."

If Cardinal Hohenheim were to become pope, it's possible that he'd be boycotted in the worst case as people would believe him to hold too much power. Therefore he's given up on becoming pope. However, the second he announced this, the pope fell sick.

Thus the situation immediately entered the stage where the next pope would be decided by vote, but Cardinal Hohenheim, who had been the strongest contender so far, had already declared that he wouldn't run. Accordingly, the folks, who had apparently given up because they knew they wouldn't have any chance, all announced their candidacy, gathered at the facility where the pope is recuperating, and have been asking the priests, who are visiting the sick pope, for their support during the election, causing a huge uproar.

"Even though he hasn't passed away yet..."

I feel like the position of those pushing for a vote will become quite bad if the current pope recovers...

"You need to know that the current pope isn't conscious anymore, son-in-law. It's a sickness where you don't know when his heart might stop working."

"I have also heard this piece of information. The healers are forcing his heart to keep beating by applying expensive, magic potions, but he seems to be in a state where they might stop administering the potions at any moment."

These two are both devils, I'm sure. I mean they're both at the top of the newest information even without actually being present at the medical facility.

"And how is that related to my children's safety?"

"All of them are fringe candidates. Even if any of them would become pope through the vote, they wouldn't hold any authority as pope anyway. For this reason, they might plot to win you over as means to obtain that authority."

"I'm no priest though..."

I don't have any spare time to help out as a priest either.

"You yourself not. But, your grandfather-in-law is the man closest to the pope, and your wife is a healer who's referred to as Saintess. Elise-san's standing is that of a priestess, but her reputation is nothing to scoff at."

Thanks to Cardinal Kempfeldt's explanation, I gradually begin to understand where this is going. A powerless pope would approach Cardinal Hohenheim, Elise, and me in order to strengthen his position.

That in itself would be difficult as my family is being protected by the royal family and high-ranking nobility, but I suppose it'd cause a huge confusion if the secret of my children got leaked thanks to the pope investigating various things.

"Egmund, all will be fine if you announce your candidacy."

So Egmund was Cardinal Hohenheim's name, huh? I haven't known until now since he's always been called Grandfather or Cardinal Hohenheim.

Still, seeing how those two call each other by name, were they actually lovers in the past?

"Don't be unreasonable, Emily."

"Any more would be my undoing, huh...? It can't be helped then. So, what are you going to do? Are you going to endorse Potzal?"

"No, please become a candidate, Emily."

"Me? That's impossible."

"Is it difficult for a woman to be inaugurated as pope?"

"Yep. Even just becoming a cardinal was a chore."

According to Cardinal Kempfeldt, there have been no female popes so far. It appears a number in the single digits has run for the post, but not once became a woman the strongest contender.

By the way, the person called Potzal seems to be the number two in Cardinal Hohenheim's faction.

"Potzal is only 52 years old, and has been assigned as cardinal recently. Besides, he's a guy who coordinates things, making it impossible for him to exhibit his abilities under such circumstances."

"I'm the same kind of person, you know?"

"Don't lie, Emily. You hold the most authority among the historic, female cardinals, don't you? After all, you're a family member of the Kempfeldt Company."

"Kempfeldt... ah, the number one lumber dealer in the Kingdom."

I see. I suppose even as a woman her influence would be strong with such a backing.

"Let's stop beating around the bush. I'll endorse you, Emily. And then you'll pass the post to Potzal later on."

"I want to have some time to play with my great-grandchildren too, so I'll do it for just five years."

"...Very well."

For some reason I ended up being allowed to witness the talk about church politics between Cardinal Hohenheim and Cardinal Kempfeldt from the beginning to the end.

* * *

"Friedrich, lookie, your grandpa is here for you."

When we return to the Hohenheim mansion after the secret meeting finished, Elise's dad is just holding Friedrich in his arms with a blissful expression. As expected, he's doting on his grandson.

"Samuel, Emily is going to visit this mansion on private business."

"Private business? There's no way that's true, is there?"

"What are you talking about? Aren't Emily and I close childhood friends? It's only normal for her to drop by when she's got some time, no?"

Even though we've just parted after the secret meeting earlier, it sounds like that granny is going to visit soon. Of course it's a pipe dream for her to only visit for some relaxed chat. I'm sure the main purpose of her visit will be a fishy talk about the strategies and schemes for the pope election.

"Cardinal Hohenheim and Cardinal Kempfeldt are childhood friends?"

"Yes, that is correct. Emily-sama has often played with me when I was younger, too."

According to Elise's explanation, both are childhood friends, have the same age, and played together almost every day during their childhood.

The heir of a Viscount house and the daughter of a wealthy merchant family. At some point there were even talks about Cardinal Kempfeldt marrying Cardinal Hohenheim, albeit as concubine.

"Given that Emily-sama was the family's second daughter, her becoming Grandfather's concubine would not have been much of a problem, but..."

With her elder sister's sudden death, she had to urgently take a husband, resulting in the two not marrying in the end. Because the Kempfeldt family only had daughters, that granny had no choice but to inherit the family.

"Emily-sama then started to voluntarily help out at the church when she did not have to take care of the children or manage her family's business."

At first she was a volunteer, but with her husband, who had been adopted into the Kempfeldt family, having died young and her sons, who inherited the business, being able to stand on their own, she started to genuinely invest time into her work as priestess, Elise says.

"She joined the church well beyond an age of forty, and finally became a cardinal just recently. Son-in-law, you ought to pay special attention to her."

I already sensed her amazingness when Cardinal Hohenheim mentioned her being his childhood friend, but it should be impossible to become a cardinal with such a late start if you don't have the abilities to back it. Just as Elise's dad says, it's best to be careful around her.

"There's also many people rumoring that father and Cardinal Kempfeldt have an affair."

Considering the familiar chat between the two, I can fully understand that notion. Then again, only the two know the truth.

"Humph, what's the point in bringing up such a silly rumor concerning some old geezer and hag?"

"Oh my, love at an old age is something you'll also find mentioned in stories."

"If you say such things, you'll just spread even more weird rumors."

"Just let people say whatever they want."

At that point, Cardinal Kempfeldt is let through into the room by Sebastian. Her current attire is an elegant dress as appropriate for the wife of a merchant family. Her not wearing her cardinal's garb right now is a display of her visiting Cardinal Hohenheim on private business.

"Elise, congratulations on the birth."

"Thank you very much, Emily-sama."

"For that tiny Elise to have become a mother... I sure have grown old. Oh right, that makes Egmund a great-grandfather."

"Right back at you. Both of us are going to live happier if we don't talk about our age, I believe."

"You've got a point there. Could I have you show me the next Earl Baumeister, Friedrich-sama, right away?"

Once I lead Cardinal Kempfeldt to the room where Friedrich is sleeping, she immediately picks him up in her arms, but I must admit that her way of holding him looks very experienced.

"It's only natural for me to be familiar with it after holding my own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren."

Come to think of it, she mentioned she's given birth to children after getting married. I wonder what kind of man her husband was. The typical husband living with his wife's parents?

Maybe him having died early... no, let's not follow this line of thought any further.

"This boy is going to become a great successor, I'm sure."

"True words."

"Very well, I'll cooperate with you."

I see, so she needed a collateral for the cooperation.

"My great-granddaughter was born just last month. She's called Stefanie."

"Emily, I think you're aware of it, but..."

"We're merchants and commoners, so I can tell as much without you telling me."

"You heard her, Son-in-law."

Since it's not like a girl, who was just recently born, can become my wife, they're talking about her becoming Friedrich's wife. Honestly, I wonder just how many wives my son is going to have around the time he's grown up enough to know what's going on around him...?

"It's going to benefit both of our families. We're a lumber dealer after all."

Since the Baumeister Earldom is full of undeveloped areas, a plethora of trees are growing there. Given that we just need to fell what we need in our own backyard, we haven't been importing any lumber whatsoever.

"It's only natural for Roderich-san to have come up with something as basic as planning to export lumber to other fiefs once the earldom's demand has settled down, isn't it?"

"Well yeah... I've heard about plans in that direction."

The kingdom has territories that lack big, old trees, so we can sell our lumber to such places for good money.

"It's about time that you start paying close attention to illegal felling of trees. Since the access to your territory has been rapidly improving, it's becoming easier to make a profit with something like that by the day."

Roderich is also wary of illegal felling, but he's struggling since we don't have the know-how to prevent it.

"Our company is going to provide you with the necessary know-how."

I doubt that a woman of Cardinal Kempfeldt's caliber hasn't noticed that I cannot accept the matter with Friedrich's concubine unconditionally.

"Just like nobles consider their own houses first and foremost, merchants also value their own families above all. If we go bankrupt, many people will be out on the streets after all."

When it comes to businesses at the scale of the Kempfeldt Company, they're probably employing numbers of workers that rival those of high-ranking nobles.

"I might be partial here, but I think Stefanie is going to become a pretty girl. I'm certain Friedrich-sama is going to take a liking to her as well."

"Haah..."

However, I've got no way to confirm this with Friedrich as he's still a baby who hangs at the breast of his mother after just having reached the state of being able to hold his head up.

I excused myself for a moment, and talked it over with Roderich, but he told me that I should accept the offer since it comes with beneficial terms.

With this, the number of Friedrich's fiancées has grown to two.

"Friedrich, I think you're going to become more popular than me."

"Aa———"

I feel like Friedrich answered, 『Guess so.』. Is he possibly going to dash down the lane of high popularity, unlike me?

As I'm pondering about this, several priests rush into the mansion.

"Cardinal Hohenheim, Cardinal Kempfeldt, His Grace the Pope has returned to Our Father's side."

"I see."

"So it's begun."

At last the election war over the next pope is going to start in earnest. As I'm doubtlessly going to be dragged into this mess, I can only pray that it comes to an end as fast as possible.

* * *

"Katharina, let's go to the pope's funeral together."

"I'm slightly preoccupied..."

It's been decided that the funeral for the pope will be held at the capital one week after the end of the True Baptism. I invited Katharina to accompany us to the funeral service, but for some reason she's turned me down.

"You should show your face there as a noble."

"It's presumptuous for a paltry noble like me to pay my respects at the church's headquarters."

Even though she gleefully attends any events related to nobles, she considers it a pain when it comes to an event related to the church.

"Is there anyone else besides Elise who wants to come along?"

With not a single one stepping up, it's pretty obvious that they don't feel like going because of the ceremonious formality that's to be expected.

"My social standing is too low for this."

"Mine as well."

"Elise-sama, please leave the care of Friedrich-sama to me."

Ina, Luise, and Wilma decline right away for the same reason as Katharina.

"Clergymen are a troublesome lot, be it here or in the Empire. Also, as I've obtained a good social position that doesn't require me to associate with the church, I can freely choose what to do, so I suppose I don't have to attend something as bothersome as the funeral service of the pope."

"Makes sense..."

Therese, I don't want to attend either, though.

"I might make some careless mistake, so it's better for me to stay away from that ceremony."

"I'm bad with the church, so..."

Katia and Lisa refuse as well, huh?

"It's just a ceremony to send His Grace the Pope on his last journey..."

Because Elise is a good person by nature, she probably wants to attend the funeral out of her genuine wish to offer a prayer to the pope. Since he served as priest when we got married, she might also be driven by the idea that it'd be ungrateful to not do at least this much.

"Elise, you might say so, but since the attendees are all going to be bigshots, many people would be nervous to attend."

After all, even royalty is going to show up...

On an emotional level, I'm also one of those who are going to feel overwhelmed, so I don't want to participate if possible. Well, that option doesn't exist though as I have to pick up Margrave Breithilde on the way.

"I cannot avoid participating because of my guard duty. It sure is going to become a mental strain..."

Since it's pointless to keep complaining, I decide to entrust the care of my children to my wives and leave. The only ones going are Elise, Eru, and me. We're scheduled to pick up Margrave Breithilde and Burkhart-san on the way.

* * *

"Yo, Earl-sama."

Margrave Breithilde and Burkhart-san are both wearing ceremonial dresses today. It's usually fine for magicians to attend a funeral in a robe, but that changes when it comes to the pope's funeral.

Eru and I are wearing ceremonial dresses as well whereas Elise has put on a black priestess garb she doesn't wear usually.

It fits her quite nicely as it's quite chic unlike usual, but since I'd likely be told that I'm rude if I actually voice it out, I don't say anything.

"What a pain."

"Burkhart, please keep such talk to yourself at the church headquarters, okay?"

"Of course."

"I mean I regard it as troublesome as well."

'I could understand it if it was the king's funeral, but the funeral of the pope is, well... but if you consider their influence, I can't ignore it either...' I think that's the gist most of the nobles should feel about this funeral service.

"It's a blessing that you're here, Earl Baumeister. We can wrap this whole ordeal up without having to head to the capital well ahead of time."

Even if they were to use a magic airship, they'd still need several days for the journey. In the eyes of Margrave Breithilde, who's busy with running his margraviate and dealing with his vassals, it'd look like a total waste of time.

"If a young person dies, the funeral will be a sad one, but with the pope... how old was he again, Burkhart?"

"If I remember correctly, something around mid-eighty."

"Nowadays popes don't resign until they die."

"Can they actually resign?"

"Certainly. If the person himself feels like it."

Which reminds me, Cardinal Kempfeldt mentioned that she'd become pope for only five years.

"In the past, many popes graciously retired after several years. It's a job that's quite taxing. Trying to cling to your position even after having grown senile is pretty unpleasant."

That's another reason why clergymen have a somewhat questionable reputation.

"The next pope... I've heard Cardinal Hohenheim won't run, so there exists no clear favorite. Have you heard anything, Earl Baumeister?"

"Yes."

Cardinal Hohenheim is now backing Cardinal Kempfeldt. Since I was told that it's alright for me to talk about this fact, I explain the circumstances to Margrave Breithilde.

"I see. As expected, it's best to not underestimate Cardinal Hohenheim."

"Creator of the first female pope in history, huh?"

"I'm sure many will leap at that, but that's not the crucial part here."

It's possible that he'll trigger wariness by those around him as he'd hold too much power if he became the pope. Accordingly he endorses Cardinal Kempfeldt for the moment. Since Cardinal Kempfeldt doesn't have as much backing as Cardinal Hohenheim, she'll be forced to rely on Cardinal Hohenheim if she wants to do her job as pope smoothly.

Since she's going to take the post as gap-filler, she isn't unhappy with it, and her successor is going to be her friend Potzal who's still young.

Cardinal Hohenheim won't become pope himself, but I suppose he's going to hold a strong influence over the next two popes. He'll probably be regarded as the mastermind in the shadows by those related to the church.

"If the church can be put in order with that, you won't hear any complaints from me. I don't have any voting rights anyway."

An honorary priest doesn't have the right to cast a vote in the pope election. It's because it'd strengthen the influence of royalty and nobility on the church if they allowed this.

"Elise-san, you do have a right to vote, don't you?"

"Yes."

Given that she's a priestess, she's got a right to vote. Without me being aware of it, she had been promoted from being an assistance priestess.

"It sounds like the election is going to become quite turbulent... oops, it's about time, I guess."

Because the funeral is going to start soon, we transfer to the capital with 『Teleport』.

A space for condolence visits has been set up in front of the headquarters. The assistant priests over there are receiving the flowers and funeral offerings.

"(Vel, that's a crazy amount of cash right there.)"

"(Eru, sshhh—!)"

I block Eru's mouth with my hand in a hurry.

"(Maybe they're going to be in the black with funeral service.)"

"(They will be.)"

"(Eh!? Really!?)"

Eru can't hide his surprise after hearing the truth from Margrave Breithilde.

"Even if they're going to be in the black with the funeral service, the creation and sale of things like bronze statues and story collection of the deceased pope... all of these will be handed out for free, so they're going to end up in the red. Well, I think they're going to even the balance sooner or later since they'll draw up and install monuments, build new churches that require the manufacture of stained glass, and other such things."

So it means the pope's death is also a kind of an economical measure which is going to bring in work for merchants and craftsmen.

"Earl Baumeister, how about we head inside any time now?"

"Of course."

Only few people are going to enter the main temple where the funeral service will be held, and most of them will be church leaders, royals, high-ranking nobles and their families. I also fall into that category, but it's not like I'm happy about being able to get in there.

"(The condolence gifts are extravagant...)"

The offerings donated by those entering the temple among the earls amounts to 100,000 cents. Offerings with a value of 10 million Japanese Yen... According to Roderich, it seems to be appropriate to give such an amount of money. Moreover, higher ranks such as Margrave Breithilde donate 200,000 cents.

As it's normal for wealthy merchants to donate a somewhat larger sum of money, some people with sharp tongues say that the popes are forced to stay at their post until their death since it yields a good profit to hold a funeral for them.

* * *

The funeral starts as scheduled, but since Cardinal Hohenheim and all the other cardinals begin to talk about the deceased pope, I become sleepy out of extreme boredom. Given that I'd earn a lot of criticism if I fell asleep in this place, I do my utmost to stay awake.

"...nh!"

"(Hey Eru, don't fall asleep!)"

Eru immediately starts to nod off, so I quickly wake him by driving an elbow strike into his flank.

"(I'm so sleepy... wouldn't it have been fine for me to accompany you until the temple as guard!?)"

"(In for a bronze coin, in for a gold coin.)"

"(You're terrible, man!)"

Once the long memorial speeches come to an end, people step up in order, placing flowers into the pope's coffin. The custom of additionally putting items the pope used while alive and his favorite food into the coffin reminds me of Japanese funeral services.

"(For such an old grandpa to have liked cookies above all else...)"

Eru says so, but it's not like the pope could wolf down meat or drink barrels of wine in front of other people. Since it'd naturally garner heavy criticism if you put such things into his coffin, the bereaved family limits it to faultless sweets.

"(I want you to stuff my coffin with nothing but wine, okay?)"

"(I thought you'd say so, Burkhart-san...)"

"(Having to worry about public opinion even after death; clergymen sure have it tough.)"

Once the funeral service comes to an end, the coffin is carried outside the temple, heading straight for the crematorium.

In recent years it's been recommended in the capital to burn the remains so as to not allow them to turn into undead. In the countryside people still bury their relatives in many regions, but it looks like cremation is gradually increasing around the capital.

"(I expected him to be buried because he was the pope.)"

"(Long ago, the corpse of a pope turned into a zombie. Because such events would trigger bad rumors about the church, they decided to go with cremation.)"

"(You're quite knowledgeable about this, aren't you?)"

"(Well, I was the one who had to burn that zombie.)"

It sounds kinda like a very secretive mission, but I suppose Burkhart-san has experienced all kinds of things in his past, too.

"(Even if you burn them, they'd turn into skeletons.)"

"(You use fire magic with a very high temperature so that this doesn't happen.)

"(Hee, who's going to do that...? Doushi?)"

The duty of cremating the pope's coffin has unexpectedly fallen upon Doushi.

"(Is this going to be alright?)"

Or rather, I feel like they've got an issue with their personnel selection, seeing how this is a funeral for a pope...

"Here I go! Special Move: Burst Rising!"

"..."

"Why a special move?"

Although he should just have cremated it normally without going out of his way to yell something like that...

"I also feel like the spell's power is too high..."

Even though it's a bad idea to not leave a few bones behind, seeing how it's a cremation...

Just as I've worried, there are no bones left among the ashes, although the cremation itself finished promptly. This led to the incident that young priests had to thoroughly comb through the ashes in search of any bone fragments.

Then again, the attendees couldn't afford to laugh at this, and thus the whole funeral ended on a somewhat comical note.

* * *

"Doushi, you've gone too far."

"You blathered something about a special move, but the pope was already dead..."

"Earl Baumeister, that comment is a bit..."

After the funeral, we joined up with Doushi, and went to drink tea at a nearby coffee shop. Looking closely, I can sporadically spot people who've also participated in the funeral service.

"Doushi, you're really amazing to shout 『Special Move』 at such an occasion."

"I have been called over because I am the Royal Head Wizard!"

That was a kind of revenge... or rather, he's pretty gutsy to pull off something against the church.

"Now that the funeral is over, the election of the next pope is up."

"So they choose through an election, eh?"

"I hear it's been decided behind closed doors in the past, though."

Since that method drew the displeasure of many priests, who were originally commoners, it was changed to an election at some point.

"Once they started to use an election, the ratio of commoner and noble priests finally evened out, it seems."

However, because even the commoner-born popes had rich families or similar circumstances, many priests claimed that the situation hasn't changed overly much. However, the believers appear to consider it better than before.

"The ratio of commoners among the people of priest rank or above, which is required to have the right to vote, amounts to 70%. It looks like a major point for any pope candidate depends on how well they can gain their support. I don't have the right to vote, however."

Nobles and merchants, who've become honorary priests by paying large sums of money, are excluded from voting. In other words, I cannot join the vote either.

"Doushi, you aren't allowed to vote either, right?"

"No, I can vote! Because I am the Royal Head Wizard!"

I guess that rank means preferential treatment then... Still, shouldn't they at least disallow people, who don't believe in the religion in the slightest like him... to become honorary priests?

"Who are you going to choose?"

"I have absolutely no idea about the candidates!"

"Doushi, that's nothing to brag about, you know...? I mean, for better or worse, you're the Royal Head Magician," Burkhart-san reprimands Doushi.

"There exists a plethora of things I must pay more attention to in this world! I will ask Elise and vote as I feel like."

Doushi, I think it's a bad idea to vote by gut feeling...

"It will be lonely for Elise and me to be the only ones to attend on the day of the election! Earl Baumeister, you accompany us as well!"

"(Whyyyyy...?)"

Because it'd require courage to turn him down here, I accepted my fate, and decided to accompany them.

* * *

"Today is the election day? Considering that, the preparations are..."

"Dear, it is not today. Today is the deadline for announcing your candidacy, so the candidates will hold introductory speeches."

Three days after the funeral, Elise and I headed to the church headquarters once again. It looks like the pope candidates will introduce themselves in front of the church founder, said to sleep in the headquarters' courtyard.

"They are going to announce their candidacy for next pope to the Great Founder."

"Doushi won't show up for this, will he...?"

"No, he won't..."

Today morning Doushi called us with the MHCD, asking Elise to listen to the candidates for him. It seems like he's also fine with choosing whoever Elise supports.

Rather, why did the church give Doushi the right to vote anyway?

"That means you actually have two votes, Elise."

"Even two votes will not influence the result much..."

Given that more than 3,000 priests are eligible to vote, I suppose you can really call two votes insignificant.

"Since we've heard from Cardinal Hohenheim that Cardinal Kempfeldt is going to run, the question would be who else is going to become a candidate, right?"

"Because Grandfather endorses Emily-sama without running himself, I think Emily is very likely going to win this."

The people belonging to Cardinal Hohenheim's faction are likely all going to vote for Cardinal Kempfeldt.

"I think I will also vote for Emily-sama. Emily-sama is very zealous about volunteer work after all."

Cardinal Kempfeldt, the actual owner of a big company, is currently the one pushing the most for voluntary activities in the church. She's educating orphans and preparing jobs for them at her own company. It sounds like many of those working for her company have such a background.

She's doing all of it for the sake of making a profit with her business, but as she's also saving many people with this in reality, Cardinal Kempfeldt is quite popular among the masses. By the way, Cardinal Hohenheim is rather unpopular because he's treated as devil by His Majesty.

"A lot more people have come forward as candidates than I have expected. It seems like Grandfather will be very busy with taking countermeasures."

Several candidates with weak support bases have appeared, dividing up the poll votes. I guess this is going to hinder Cardinal Kempfeldt from easily winning. But, Cardinal Hohenheim's faction is the strongest faction, so it doesn't seem like she won't be able to win...

"There exists a lot of people who announce their candidacy, even if they will no get elected."

"For the sake of showing off their own authority?"

"Yes."

Even if they can't win the election with 20% of the votes, it'd still mean that the candidate has the authority to rally 20%. Any new pope would also need to consider the rivaling factions to a certain extent.

"If the votes for the new pope are on the lower end, they will be regarded as weak."

Different from the election deciding the Empire's ruler, they can't collect voting papers from the whole country many times over. There's no rule stating that they'll redo it as long a candidate doesn't gather the majority of votes. I hear past popes even won the election with roughly 30% of the total votes.

Given that such popes don't hold much authority, naturally, Cardinal Hohenheim is moving about to increase the votes for Cardinal Kempfeldt as much as possible.

"There's four candidates, huh...?"

Besides Cardinal Kempfeldt, Cardinal Langjahr, Cardinal Bücher, and Cardinal Solger are also running.

Cardinal Langjahr is 75 years old, and seems to be of royal descent, albeit hailing from a branch family. Since he's been active in the construction of churches for many years, he's got a lot of influence among the workshops creating stained glasses and church decorations, as well as companies in the construction sector.

Cardinal Bücher is 73 years old. He hails from a noble family. He's been working on printing and selling publications such as the scriptures. He's someone with a strong pull in education since he has a lot of clout among bookstores, and workshops which edit, print and bind books.

Because Cardinal Solger is the leader of the paladin order, he doesn't really look like a priest. His priest garb seems rather tight because of all his muscles. He was born a commoner. Currently he's 68 years old, and as such, the youngest among the candidates. Then again, I only call him young at 68 years because we're talking about the church here. That means he's the military type who's got a lot of influence with workshops selling equipment to the paladin order.

"(Somehow it looks like the presidential election of some political party...)"

Even though they're supposed to decide the next pope with the democratic method of voting, it all smells so damn corrupt...

After having listened to the candidates' speeches, Elise and I walked to Cardinal Hohenheim's mansion. It appears he's holding a party today to show his appreciation.

Being able to eat extravagant food sounds wonderful... yeah, as if...

As the party is sponsored by Cardinal Kempfeldt and co-sponsored by Cardinal Hohenheim, it's super shady, no matter how you look at it. So far as it goes, it seems you have to pay for participating, but the fee is a laughable 10 cents.

I hear they're planning to donate all of the income to support the construction of a nursery. That's totally the party of politicians, no kidding...

"Sorry, but please attend just this gathering for us."

"Haaah..."

I don't have the right to vote, but since I'm Cardinal Hohenheim's grandson-in-law, I guess it bears meaning for me to show my face at his party.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Earl Baumeister."

"I am his wife, Elise."

Elise and I keep greeting the party attendees while accompanying Cardinal Hohenheim. It's a true pain in the ass, but this is also for the sake of my children's future.

Children, Daddy is working hard for your sake together with Mum.

"The support of Cardinal Hohenheim, Earl Baumeister, and Saintess-sama, huh...? I'd say Cardinal Kempfeldt's victory is pretty much set in stone."

"All that's left is to see how many votes the other three candidates are going to get."

The party attendees are frequently coming and going.

As a matter of fact, the other candidates are also holding similar parties, and there are many people who apparently jump around between those parties.

"It looks like it's a success, Emily."

"It's all thanks to our wonderful supporters."

Once we went to greet Cardinal Kempfeldt together with Cardinal Hohenheim, I saw that many priestesses had gathered around her. I thought it'd just be elderly priestesses eligible to vote, but... there are also many girls among them who're close to Elise and me in age.

"It's nothing but cute girls, right Earl Baumeister?"

"Hey, Emily." Cardinal Hohenheim immediately warns Cardinal Kempfeldt.

That's because it seems as though she's trying to force young women on me.

"Don't worry, I don't plan anything like that. Since your guard of Earl Baumeister is way too hard, many girls said that they want to see his face. Also, the parents of these girls are our supporters, too."

"Now listen..."

Being told so, Cardinal Hohenheim can't really argue back...

Cardinal Kempfeldt... is a fairly shrewd granny, isn't she?

"Nice to meet you, I'm Leafa Kempfeldt."

Moreover, several of Cardinal Kempfeldt's granddaughters have casually been added to the throng as well. Given that it's only normal to have young people help out at the church if it comes to a company as big as the Kempfeldt Company, this isn't really unusual either.

"A new confectionery has opened up on Demumin Street."

"Hee, what kind of sweets do they sell?"

"They're specialized on Streuselkuchen, but the fruits used as filling are imported from the Baumeister Earldom. It's really famous for being a lot more delicious than the Streuselkuchen of other stores."

"I wasn't aware of that."

I hadn't accumulated enough skill points to smoothly chat with girls at my age, but since they were talking about new confectioneries and restaurants in the capital, I had no problem to join in. Women like trying out food at various places. Because they're regular girls except for the times when they're helping at the church, they know alot about such topics.

Well, it's also because they've researched my preferences well, though...

"How about visiting the place together in the future?"

"Recently I've been quite busy, but if I find some time, gladly."

Ultimately I should keep positive responses at the level of lip service. Well, it'll end with them getting blocked off by Roderich anyway since he organizes my schedule.

"Sorry for all the trouble, Son-in-law. Thanks to you, Cardinal Kempfeldt has scored an overwhelming victory. Well, my childhood friend is still as shrewd as ever though..."

Privately they're close childhood friends, but inside the church, they're also rivals. The part about them trying to send a woman to me as soon as they see a chance unexpectedly applies to both. They might suit each other well as a couple, if they marry.

"Dear, should we go back soon?"

"You're right."

Elise has conducted herself well as my first wife during the party. Although Cardinal Kempfeldt brought along many women, she faultlessly dealt with them. But, as might be expected, she wasn't overly amused either. Even I, who's not familiar with women, can tell as much.

Accordingly, I decided to go on a date with her before going back home.

Chapter 05: Candy-san, It's Candy-san For Real!

Given that Elise has had it difficult with the birth and child raising, I've decided to take her out on a shopping date. She's a very diligent girl, so I have to cleverly lure her into taking a breather.

"I've heard from Burkhart-san that one of his acquaintances is running the shop here."

"An acquaintance of Burkhart-san, you say? Is it an adventurer then?"

"Looks like it. Though he's retired by now."

Because I'm shopping while having my wife with me, I've taken her to a shop that deals in accessories and clothes catering towards women. The shop opened just recently, but according to Burkhart-san, it's fairly popular.

I thought that the owner would be a woman, but apparently a man is running the shop. It's kinda weird to be interested in clothes and accessories as male adventurer, but once I meet the owner after entering the shop, I can immediately see that it fits.

"Oh my, welcome. You're Earl Baumeister-sama, the dragon-slaying hero and Burkhart-chan's pupil, right~? Mmmhh, a nice and healthy, young man."

"Thanks..."

"..."

He's the kind of guy who thinks of himself as a woman. Going by his appearance, Burkhart-san and him shouldn't be that far apart in age. Despite being a guy, he's wearing a frilly skirt, a silken shirt, and makeup, but because of his tall, muscular figure, he doesn't look like a woman in the least.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, please call me Candy, okay?"

"Sure... Candy-san..."

"..."

I somehow manage to squeeze out that reply after mustering all my willpower, but I'm getting totally overpowered by the impact of a macho crossdresser with the voice of a man well beyond 50.

Then again, I'm still better off since I've been immunized to weirdos like him thanks to the experience of my previous life, but Elise, who's been raised as a sheltered, noble lady, seems unable to say anything after having received a heavy shock from being confronted with a crossdresser for the first time in her life.

"I might look like this, but in my heart I'm a girl."

Girl, he says... it's really been a long time since I last met a person with an impact that could rival Doushi. If I let myself lured into retorting, 『As if a girl like you exists anywhere!』, here, I can only imagine that I'd be beaten to death on the spot.

"Are you an old acquaintance of Burkhart-san?"

"Yes, I am. Burkhart-chan, you see, was quite the looker in his younger days. I aimed for him as well, but he was always busy playing around with other girls, so I never managed to become more than a friend to him. Since that guy is quite skilled at handling women, he easily led me around by the nose."

"..."

Elise's mental functions appear to have shut down to an extent as she stands next to me.

Homosexual love is a taboo at the church, and on top of that, Candy-san himself has such a strong character. I'm sure she's unable to process in her head how she should deal with him.

"You were an adventurer comrade of Burkhart-san?"

"I've joined temporary parties with him every once in a while."

Just as expected, Burkhart-san apparently didn't have the mental fortitude to permanently form a party with this guy.

"Is Candy something like a nickname from your time as an adventurer?"

"My real name is Barst, but since it doesn't suit me, I've chosen Candy to be the name of my soul."

Soul, eh...? Just going by his appearance, Barst is a name fitting him to a tee.

"During my adventurer time I've also stuck with Candy. My alias during my active time was 『Bloody Candy』."

Bloody, huh... Since I can't imagine this old dude getting injured, he must have been called like that because he regularly got showered by monster blood or some such. Or rather, this guy has absolutely no openings although I can't sense any mana from him. He should be fairly strong.

"(Dear.)"

"(Is something the matter, Elise?)"

"(『Bloody Candy』 belonged to 『Twilight of Dawn』 which Grandfather told us about before I gave birth, didn't he?)"

"(...Now that you mention it, I remember!)"

It's the same name as the leader of the adventurer party to which Doushi belonged in his youth. Someone else with the same name... no, I can't believe that two such eccentric people exist at the same time, and the alias is the same as well.

"(So Doushi had joined the party of this man, huh..?)"

That's Doushi for you. It makes me admire his mental fortitude.

"What's wrong, you two? Oh my, you look just like Nina-chan."

"You were also acquainted... with my mother?"

"In the past, yes. There were various circumstances."

Yep, Elise and I are aware of this as well.

Still, him being friends with Burkhart-san and Doushi is, in a certain sense, amazing.

"I've heard that you would take a look at my fashion today, so maybe I can tell you a bit about the past later on."

"Hahaha, I see. But nonetheless, it's rare for a former adventurer to run a store for women's fashion and accessories."

"I've been quite skilled at sewing clothes since my childhood. But, since my family was poor, I had no choice but to become an adventurer."

So I guess he supported his poor family as an adventurer and then opened this shop after retiring at long last. At any rate, he's got my respect for being able to sew women's clothes with such rough fingers.

"It's going to be nice clothes for your wife, right? Wonderful, I'll choose something that fits her perfectly.

"Please do. Elise, take a look at them."

"Okay..."

Given his appearance, Elise was quite wary of Candy-san at first. But, she immediately opened up to him while actually picking the clothes he showed her. Certainly, Candy-san looks like 'that', but his girlish demeanor seems very popular with women.

"I think this color should be in fashion very soon. Elise-chan, you got blond hair, so it might be better for you to stop wearing clothes with overlapping, yellow colors. On the other hand, crimson and red lead colors would suit you nicely. If you just stick to blue and green colors, you'll just limit your own repertoire."

"You have a point. I suppose it is not a good idea to stick to just darker colors."

"Absolutely. Young girls should wear clothes with bright colors."

Elise continues talking with Candy-san after casting a quick glance at me. Is she feeling uneasy because I've recently been surrounded by young girls in my party?

"Elise, you're pretty and have a nice style, so you basically look good in everything. Since you've become a mother, you should try going with slightly more adult clothing for the times when you're not working at the church. Your husband is going to fall for you all over again."

"Is that true?"

"Elise-chan, you've got a great foundation, so you ought to be a lot more confident in yourself."

"I guess you are right."

"No doubt, yep, yep."

It was the same in my previous life as well, but this kind of business draws many people like him. And people like him are very skilled at grasping the hearts of women.

"Also, it'd be a great idea to combine it with this."

Judging from a quick survey of the shop, the merchandise sold at Candy-san's shop revolves around products that would be popular among young noble women. The low number of clothes on display seems to either stem from the limited amount Candy-san can sew by himself or his limitation of only selling clothes he likes himself.

She... this guy is running a business of recommending clothes that would suit his clients while advising them on how to coordinate their fashion. The tea and sweets served are delicious as well. I think he's quite skilled at this business.

Because he was a famous adventurer before his retirement, he's got plenty of financial reserves. Maybe because of that leeway, he doesn't try to forcibly recommend clothes to his clients. And for this reason, he seems to steadily increase his base of regular customers.

"My recommendation is this and this."

"I think we'll take these then."

"Thank you very much, dear."

As Earl Baumeister, I cannot afford to make my wife pay a huge amount of money for the things she bought after coming to shop here with her. Also it's not like the clothes are that expensive since they're intended to be worn at home.

I hand Candy-san the coins.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, you're very generous. Please come visit us again. Then I'll also coordinate the clothes for your other wives."

His appearance is a bit 'that', but Candy-san sure is a girl in his heart...

Just as I'm thinking that, I can suddenly hear a man shouting in anger outside the shop.

"Didn't you just dislocate my shoulder with your armor!? You gotta cough up the cash for the damage you caused and the medical fees!"

"No way... the one bumping into me first was..."

"Who gives a shit 'bout that!? You dislocated my shoulder! Do you understand what that means?"

A ruffian has run into a young woman, apparently using this as a pretext to pick a fight with her. Since this street is close to the lower-ranking noble district, it's rare for such morons to show up around here. Maybe he's come here after running short on the money he needs to pay to his senior group members and boss.

"Dear."

"Good grief, looking at him only stains the nice view of the city."

The ruffian should run away without resorting to violence if I make an appearance. Judging it like that, I'm about to step outside the shop, but Candy-san makes his move before I can.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, please leave this to me."

Candy-san winking at me with a smile is really creepy. He heads outside the store, and immediately steps in front of the woman who's being mugged by the ruffian.

"You're a bad boy. It's wrong to scare a woman like that, okay~?"

Candy-san asks the ruffian to pull back with a smile and a gentle voice.

It doesn't seem as though he intends to resolve this with physical force, but the other party doesn't show the slightest will to pull back here.

"The hell are you? Weaklings shoulda stay out of this! Or are you also goin' to pay the medical fees and reparations?"

"Medical fees?"

"Obviously! My shoulder been dislocated! I gotta hurry and go to a doctor!"

The ruffian appears to be surprised by Candy-san who's got a brawny body build, but as soon as he sees that Candy-san is wearing women's clothes, he starts to look down on him. Not judging people just by their looks... any smart person would immediately withdraw if they say someone with such a muscular body. Though this might not be an option in this case exactly because he's a ruffian.

"It doesn't look like your shoulder is dislocated though..."

"Open your eyes, and look here! My shoulder is dislocated, see?"

The ruffian thrust out his right shoulder, which he's insisting to be dislocated, at Candy-san.

"Is it?"

Candy-san checks the shoulder by swiftly touching it.

"No, it's not."

"I'm tellin' you, it's dislocated!"

"As a former adventurer I can tell since I've seen more than enough of such injuries, and your shoulder definitely isn't dislocated. Since that's how it is, you can go back home."

"Thank you very much!" The woman thanks Candy-san for letting her escape this situation, and leaves on the spot.

"You piece o' shit! Ain't your call to make!"

"I mean, your shoulder is fine, so no reason for her to stay here~"

Candy-san answering while wiggling his body looks somewhat creepy.

But, since he's doing something good, I end up feeling sorry for considering him to be a creep.

"I've been tellin' you that's it's dislocated, fuckin' bastard!"

"How stubborn. This is what you call a dislocated shoulder."

It looks like Candy-san has finally snapped due to the ruffian being so annoying. He dislocates both his shoulders in the blink of an eye.

Just as I thought, Candy-san must have been remarkable as an adventurer.

Having both his shoulders suddenly dislocated, the ruffian's arms powerlessly dangle.

"I can't move my arms!?!" He immediately screams.

"Now you see. If your shoulders are dislocated, you can't move your arms anymore."

"You fucker! Return them to normal!!"

"Sure, here you go."

Being told to put them back to normal, Candy-san fixes the shoulders in no time. I've ended up misunderstanding because of Candy-san's brawny build, but he must have been an adventurer with an extraordinarily refined technique.

"What's with you dislocating other people's shoulders as you please!? I'm goin' to destroy that shitty shop of yours!"

With things not working out as he expected, the ruffian finally ends up blurting out something he shouldn't have. It's probably only reasonable for Candy-san to lose it when he's told that his shop would be wrecked after he finally managed to set it up with the money he earned as adventurer.

Without any preparations whatsoever, he grabs the ruffian's neck and lifts him up.

"Now listen, if you touch my shop, I'll rip you, your organization and its members apart, got it!?"

"I'm showwy..."

Candy-san releases the guy before he suffocates, but as the ruffian has apparently suffered a severe case of trauma due to Candy-san completely changing all of a sudden, he starts to bawl like a little kid despite being a grown adult.

Elise and I also feel a chill run down our spines due to Candy-san's unexpected side.

"If I see you one more time in this neighborhood, I'll kill you!"

"I-I'm terribly sorryyyy!!" The ruffian runs away as fast as his feet carry him.

Once he confirms that the ruffian's gone, Candy-san shifts his face to Elise and me with his usual smile.

"No way, how embarrassing. You've seen me acting a bit like a tomboy."

""...""

Elise and I remained silent, but I'm sure we want to say the same thing: We must make sure to never anger Candy-san.

* * *

"That guy really stays true to himself, as usual."

Once we return to the my mansion through 『Teleport』 after having purchased Elise's clothes, Burkhart-san visits as messenger for Margrave Breithilde. When I inform him of what has pertained with Candy-san today, he makes a comment while donning an understanding expression.

"I mean he's always kind to women, so yeah."

"You are right."

Elise agrees with Burkhart-san after having received tender and careful advice about fashion from her.

"He was quite the same during his time as an adventurer. If it came to female adventurers, Candy often went out of his way in various ways to look after them. On top of having taken sewing to a professional level, he's good at customer service, and he's also skilled at cooking. If he had been a woman, I might have married him myself, to be honest."

I can relate to Burkhart-san's opinion. Certainly, Candy-san's appearance is amazing in various ways, but deep in his heart, he's a true girl and a good person, I think. Though it's also true that he becomes pretty scary if angered.

"Someone like Candy could kill some neighborhood ruffians within milliseconds. He's probably one of the strongest fighters if you exclude magicians."

Even as an adventurer he's achieved a lot of success as an elite, and now after having retired, he's also running his fashion store successfully. I suppose the only thing he can't change no matter what is his own gender.

"Elise, those clothes are really pretty since they're different from your usual fashion style."

"I had Candy-san choose them for me."

"Hee, that Candy person seems to be someone with a good fashion sense." Luise praises the novelty of the unusual, reddish clothes Elise is wearing.

Taking another, closer look, I must admit, they're nice since they give the impression of being a mature woman.

"Vel, take me to that store sometime soon as well, okay?"

"Sometime soon?"

"I think there's another person that should get a consultation about their fashion before me..."

Luise's eyes are pinned on Katia who's eating the cookies Elise and I bought as a souvenir.

"Me?"

"Katia, you're way too random with your outfits!"

"Aren't clothes alright as long as they can be worn and don't look like shit?"

There are many people like her among the top-notch female adventurers, although with varying differences in extremity. In reality, I've thought about fashion just like her in my previous life. Honestly, even if I'm told to be fashionable, I usually end up stumped as to what to wear.

Back on Earth I've often worn suits, and my casual wear consisted of Uniqlo or Muji products.

"If you don't smartly choose your attire to some extent, you'll disgrace Vel-sama."

"How are things on your side, Wilma?"

"I'm fine."

After Wilma became my wife, she was taught by Elise and Therese, and now wears proper clothing when at home. Her choice of clothes and their coordination isn't bad either. Wilma exceeds the most among all of us when it comes to adapting to new environments. It seems like she'd immediately acclimatize herself, even if she were suddenly flung into modern Japan.

"Wilma has shaped up nicely in that regard. I also had a time when I chose my clothes by just their functionality, but it's never been as bad as with Katia."

"Uughh... no one's standing on my side..."

Having the truth pointed out by Ina as well, Katia retreats a step backwards.

"Big Sis... got taught by Therese and Amalie..."

Since she couldn't talk to men unless she wore flashy clothes and makeup, Lisa also had no decent clothes in her dressers, but after being taught by Therese and Amalie-san about fashion, she started to wear normal clothes. She's completely stopped wearing those flashy outfits and makeup, even during her work as a magician.

"Katia, accompany them when Elise goes to cast her vote, and get a consultation about thine fashion."

"That's a great idea."

"You're not allowed to refuse."

"I understand..."

After also being urged to change by Therese, Amalie-san, and Lisa, Katia finally caves in and it's decided that she'll go to Candy-san's store next time.

* * *

"Hubby, this is the church's headquarters, no?"

"We'll first let Elise get her voting done, that's why.

Today is the day of deciding the next pope. Given that the votes from the countryside have been tallied in advance, only the priests living in the capital and its circumference are going to cast their vote, though it's rather questionable what level of free choice they're going to have.

Because many are going to vote in accordance with the calling by the factions they belong to, it's not like they've got enough of a say in it to call it democratic... .but then again, the same could also be said about Japan's elections. I'm not really proud of it, but I've never gone to vote myself. After all, I couldn't bear the thought of wasting my precious day-off.

"Earl Baumeister, Elise, today is fine weather for hunting, I must say."

Doushi, who met up with us at the entrance to the church headquarters, clearly lacks interest in the election.

His face tells anyone that he came here because he had no choice.

"Elise, who are you going to vote for?"

"Umm, that is..."

"I got it! I will get the voting done at once, and go hunting for today!"

Once Doushi hears whom Elise is going to support, he rushes off towards the polling booth.

"Okay, I am done here!"

After casting his vote quickly, Doushi flies off towards the capital's outskirts with 『High-Speed Flight』. Not even five minutes have passed since we met, so he must have been deeply annoyed with the whole voting business.

"Elise."

"Yes, let me quickly finish the voting then."

We ended up rooted to the spot, feeling dumbfounded by Doushi exiting like a storm, but after pulling ourselves together, we entered the headquarters.

"——Hello, Earl Baumeister."

"Huh? Minister Rückner, were you eligible to vote as well?"

For some reason Minister Rückner, who is no priest, calls out to me in front of the polling booth.

"No, I don't have the right to vote, but Cardinal Langjahr's father has taken good care of me in the past..."

For this reason he appears to cooperate with the cardinal's faction in making some final endorsements. But wait, isn't it kind of problematic to make him support the cardinal's election given that he's the Kingdom's finance minister?

"I suspect there's no point in me asking you to vote for us, is there, Earl Baumeister...?"

"Before asking me that, you should know that I'm not eligible to vote in the first place."

Ultimately I've come here to accompany Elise.

"I'm sure Elise is going to vote for the person she believes to be the best choice. I've just come here together with her."

"I see. Well, I doubt I'd be able to put in a request for you to vote for someone anyway. Oh, by the way, I have a day off today."

"Haah..."

Why are you deliberately telling me something like that?

Minister Rückner spots a new voter, and asks him to cast his vote for Cardinal Langjahr.

"——Yo! Fancy to see you here, Earl Baumeister!"

Right after Minister Rückner left me, Minister Edgar discovered me. He seems to support a specific candidate as well.

Still, is it truly okay for active cabinet ministers to do something like this?

"Even though I got a day off for the first time in a long time, it ended up wasted on supporting an election campaign."

"Are you backing Cardinal Solger?"

"He's someone who took care of me when I served in the royal army... also, the paladin unit and the royal army do have some ties."

The army and the paladins are two different organizations, but a certain percentage of the paladins are soldiers who have retired from the royal army. Moreover, the paladin unit occasionally sends officer candidates to the royal army for the sake of obtaining information related to military affairs... new weapons and equipment, as well as knowledge about tactics and military administration.

Veteran soldiers, who have retired from the army, are also employed temporarily by the paladins for their connections and insider knowledge.

Because of that personnel exchange, Minister Edgar also has to pay attention to their needs. However, because it'd be problematic for him to openly support Cardinal Solger's candidacy as Minister of Defense, he expressly stresses the part of him being here as a private person during his vacation.

"Even if you ask me to vote for your candidate, I'm not eligible to cast a vote in the first place."

Besides, I don't think that Elise is going to vote for Cardinal Solger anyway.

"You've got it wrong. It'd actually be a problem if you voted for Cardinal Solger."

"I don't think saying this would qualify as you supporting his candidacy, though?"

I thought that Minister Edgar might ask me to vote for Cardinal Solger.

"The one eligible to vote is your wife, Earl Baumeister. She's Cardinal Hohenheim's granddaughter, so I'm fully aware that it's impossible for her to vote for Cardinal Solger."

I suppose he's saying that it'd become an issue if you high-handedly asked Elise to vote for Cardinal Solger. The same reason might have applied to Minister Rückner as well.

"Cardinal Solger won't be elected anyway. All that matters is how many votes he can gather, but Cardinal Solger is a smart guy, so he's got a good idea on how the vote is going to roughly turn out."

Because it looks like he can secure the expected number of votes, it'll allow him to maintain a certain level of influence as leader of the paladin unit. Cardinal Langjahr and Cardinal Bücher haven't been aiming to win the election from the very start. It also means Cardinal Hohenheim knew about this when he decided to support Cardinal Kempfeldt.

"You see, we as nobles and pious believers must show our faces and support cardinals who have such ties with us. After all, it's just going to become troublesome later on, if we don't participate in this event."

I guess you could call it an obligation that comes with the job, so they must show that they've properly participated in supporting the candidacy. It sure resembles the election support for a company's union.

In my previous life I also supported some old guy whom I didn't even know. Being asked to appear at the kickoff party after he announced his candidacy, I did so despite being loaded with tons of work for my regular job.

So this means Minister Rückner and Minister Edgar are also using the precious day-off for work.

"Okay, we have to go now."

"Sure, I need to stay here for a bit longer."

Once we enter the main temple where the polling booths have been set up, Cardinal Kempfeldt is just voting for herself. She's accompanied by a huge throng of priestesses of various ages who are all loudly and passionately cheering for her.

Cardinal Kempfeldt's election strategy is to emphasize her becoming history's first female pope. Voting in front of your supporters is a typical performance by politicians as I've also seen it in my previous life.

"Oh my, you've come to vote now as well, Elise?"

"Yes."

"Please give me your vote, okay?"

As I thought, Cardinal Kempfeldt is a shrewd granny after all, seeing how she's asking Elise to vote for her while knowing that she's going to do so anyway.

"How about we have some tea after the voting is over?"

"Won't you be busy?"

"I've nothing left to do anymore besides finishing voting myself."

"Alright, it should be no problem to have a small tea break."

In reality I had planned to take Katia to Candy-san's shop after this, but now my schedule has changed a bit. It'd have been rude to turn her down... or such might have been naive thinking of me.

Cardinal Kempfeldt leads us to a big, conference-room-like place located in the church's main temple. It seems to be a room that's being used like an election office, but as most of the work is done by now, big amounts of sweets and a tea set has been set up on the table.

And then...

"Wow! It's all just young women. This is paradise."

"Eru, I'm going to tell your wife."

"Vel... it's just because two of your wives are present..."

Eru ogles the many young women in the room. Since all of them are dressed up beautifully, it's not that I can't understand his feelings.

Despite wearing priestess garbs, many of the girls, who have been supporting Cardinal Kempfeldt's candidacy, don't really seem like they're true priestesses. They're probably just helping out as volunteers at the church every once in a while.

"Many of the girls mentioned that they'd like to meet you Earl Baumeister-sama. I wonder if you can give them a little bit of your time."

"Haah..."

As said, she's a really shrewd granny, that Cardinal Kempfeldt. She's likely asked the parents of these girls for election campaign funds and their vote by using me as bait.

In front of Cardinal Hohenheim, she hasn't pushed for me to take these girls as wives, but I think she's going here for the approach that it can't be helped if I fall in love with them after meeting them face to face.

"Now, please go ahead."

This tea party seems to host me, who has no right to vote, as the main star. Being forced to sit down smack down in the middle, I'm getting surrounded by the young girls. Going by the atmosphere of this whole show, you could think that I've nominated a big number of girls at a hostess bar.

A church-run hostess bar... isn't that somehow inappropriate?

"Earl Baumeister-sama, I am called Margaretha Tänzler. My home runs the Tänzler Company which deals in foodstuff."

"I'm Frieda von Rosch, a daughter of the Knight Rosch House."

They're introducing themselves to me one after the other, but because there's so many of them, I can't quite remember all their names. Because they're all girls who have been placed at Cardinal Kempfeldt's side after she's asked for their family's support, many of them hail from lower nobility and merchant families.

"Erwin-san, you're one of the highest chief retainers of the Baumeister House, aren't you?"

"No, you're praising me a bit too much there..."

It looks like they're also targeting Eru. He's been staring at them with lewd eyes while being surrounded. If I tell Haruka later on, she'll probably cut him down with her katana.

"Please, here you go with a refill of tea."

"Earl Baumeister-sama, these cookies are highly popular at my family's store."

Not to mention Eru, I'm also starting to gradually feel great while being surrounded by young girls who pour me new tea and take care of my every need. It's obviously a trap laid out by Cardinal Kempfeldt, but in reality, it's hard to resist the temptation.

I'm just chatting with pretty girls while drinking tea, so it's not like I'm fooling around or anything... right?

"Earl Baumeister-sama, this tart is very delicious. Allow me to give you a sample."

"That's going a bit too far..."

"Please enjoy the taste without any constraint."

"Then..."

Just when I thought that it might be fine to go along with the atmosphere, I suddenly feel two murderous stares directed at me. When I look towards the source in panic, Elise and Katia are sitting there smiling with cups full of tea in their hands.

Their smiles seem to be stuck to their faces, but I feel very horrified by those smiles.

"Umm... I'm no child, so... this tart sure is tasty... the sourness of wild strawberries gives it a perfect accent."

"Erwin-sama, please visit me at home to play if you got some time in the future."

"I'm busy as a guard, so only if I have the opportunity."

"I'm looking forward to that time."

I don't fall for the temptation any longer thanks to Elise and Katia, but Eru seems to have lost all reasoning after being swarmed by many beautiful girls. He exchanges contact addresses with several of them.

For things to move in a direction as planned by Cardinal Kempfeldt...

But, considering what he's going to be told by Haruka and his other wives once he gets back home, I'll let him have his fun for the moment. I focus on enjoying the tea and sweets.

* * *

"That granny sure pulls off some bold moves. Hubby, you completely looked like a pervert too."

"How rude. I'm always looking calm and composed."

"You think so? To me you seemed to enjoy yourself very much while looking very accepting of your fate."

I won't deny that I enjoyed it like the hostess bar where I went as business entertainment in my previous life, but I don't think that ogled the girls like Eru did.

"You couldn't have turned it down since it had the pretext of being allowed to meet with you in exchange for support with the election campaign, dear. After all, my Grandfather has promised to back Cardinal Kempfeldt."

The happy tea party, or in other words, Cardinal Kempfeldt's trap ended after roughly two hours.

But, I haven't succumbed to the temptations. I mean I haven't even exchanged contact addresses with the girls like Eru did.

"I have done my utmost to serve as Vel's shield, and drawn the attention of the young ladies to myself while deliberately ogling them, exchanging contact addresses, and such. This was all part of my plan."

"Yeah, right. Come up with a better lie!" Katia immediately shoots down Eru's excuse.

In my eyes it also looked as though he merely enjoyed a fun time by giving reign to his instincts.

"Then you are saying you will not use the contact addresses given to you, Erwin-san?"

"That's... I'll first consult Roderich-san. Look, there were many daughters from merchant families among them, right? So it might give the Earl Baumeister House a benefit in trading with them..."

Even after being coldly confronted by Elise, Eru insists that there's some purpose to the contact addresses he gathered.

It looks like he's become pretty good at coming up with excuses since he had plenty of chances to gain experience until now.

"I understand. I shall inform Haruka-san of your intentions."

"Wha-!"

However, Elise is one step above him.

"Please make sure to properly inform Roderich-san about the contact addresses, okay?"

"Uugh..."

Just as Eru drops his shoulders after being instructed so by Elise, we arrive in front of Candy-san's store.

"Hubby, I wouldn't really mind going to another shop..."

"Eh? Why?"

"Katia-san, you will be able to find many nice clothes at Candy-san's store."

For some reason Katia hates the idea of entering this store. Elise and I are puzzled by that, but the reason immediately becomes clear.

* * *

"Oh my, long time no see, Katia-chan~"

"So you did remember!"

"Of course, I do. Katia-chan, you're such a wonderful raw gem after all."

"You two are acquainted with each other?"

"Yes."

According to Candy-san, he met Katia for the first time when she was still a novice adventurer.

"Katia-chan is such a cute girl, and yet she has absolutely no interest in fashion. I gave her advice in the past."

"I'll gladly accept advice from you as an adventurer, but my clothes are fine like this, okay? I'm not going to put on some weird outfits or anything like that."

Yep, Katia really resembles me in that aspect. We both believe that we can run around in whatever clothes during our private time as long as we keep our adventurer equipment properly maintained.

Candy-san had cautioned her about it, because he saw it as a waste for her to run around like that despite being a cute girl. Katia must have been confused when she was called out by a famous adventurer as a newbie, just to be told to wear slightly cuter clothes.

"Because there are many girls like her around, I've opened this fashion and accessories store."

"Now listen here, you haven't lost your edge as an adventurer at all, have you!? Continue working as an adventurer! You dropping out is a huge loss for the adventurer world!" Katia criticizes Candy-san for his early retirement.

It sounds like he's been an amazing adventurer after all.

"Eeeeh? I'm more suited for this kind of job. I don't really like being an adventurer since I'm becoming too much of a tomboy during the job."

Looking at how he dealt with the ruffian the other day, it's pretty obvious. He's a remarkable fighter with an awe-inspiring alias like 『Bloody Candy』. Going by his appearance, he's a vanguard and warrior relying on strength, and since his speed isn't half bad either, I think he's a calamity for any monster. Considering that his alias contains 'bloody' and seeing how his body has no scars, it means the bloody refers to him being drenched with monster blood.

"..."

"What's wrong, Eru? You've become so quiet all of a sudden."

"(...The hell's going on with that old dude?)"

I can fully understand his feelings. If it's your first meeting with him, you won't know how to deal with that.

"Oh my, this boy here looks strong. He's my type. It looks like he'll become similar to Burkhart-chan once he grows old."

"Me?"

Eru, you're really liked by all kinds of things, such as granny ghosts in flawed properties.

"I can also make clothes for men. Let's have you try on some clothes for a bit."

"No... today I'm here as Milord's bodyguard, so..."

"Oh my, your refined behavior also fits with my preferences."

"As I said, I'm—"

"—I'll let you try on some clothes."

"I'm in the middle of 'WORKKKK'!"

Eru is about to be forcibly dragged deeper into the shop by Candy-san as there's no way that he could put up a fight with Candy-san when it comes to strength or ability as adventurer. He tries to resist, but it ends up in vain, and he's being pulled away by Candy-san.

"For him to treat Eru's resistance as child's play..."

This world definitely is full of amazing people.

"I'll help you taking off your clothes."

"I can do it myself!"

"Refined and cute, eh? Oh my, your trained body looks very dreamy."

"""..."""

Eru is experiencing something terrible inside the store, but neither Elise, Katia, or I can muster the willpower to stop it. It's because we felt that we'd certainly be preempted by Candy-san.

"Vel, I curse you..."

"Doesn't that look great on you?"

Even though he had been in a hostess-bar-styled paradise until just a little while ago, he's now been plunged into hell after Candy-san took a liking to him, huh...?

It seems like this world does a good job at keeping things in proper balance.

"But, it really suits you."

"Erwin, you look slightly more adult in this."

His appearance is like that, but I think Candy-san has a great fashion sense. At a first glance, the clothes seem to be simple, but thanks to the high-quality fabric used, it feels like an adult aura is engulfing Eru.

"Erwin-chan, you're Earl Baumeister-sama's retainer, so you're going to be looked down upon by the retainers of other nobles in the capital, if you don't have at least this much of a fashion taste."

"Ugh, I can't even talk back here..."

The Earl Baumeister House is going to keep growing in the future. If Eru runs around in sloppy outfits, it's going to negatively affect my reputation, is what Candy-san means, I suppose.

Candy-san, it's a waste because of your strange appearance, but I have to admit that you're a kind person.

"With an attire like this, Erwin-chan's trained body line is being accentuated too. How lovely~!"

It sounds like that part has been his personal gain from this, but if not for saying that, I'd have honestly respected him...

"Buuut..."

"Huh?"

Suddenly Candy-san lightly pokes Eru's chest with a finger. Him doing no more than that causes Eru's body to lose its balance.

"I love men's muscles, but your balance control is way too sloppy, Erwin-chan."

"No way..."

It's only natural since even Burkhart-san takes his hat off when it comes to Candy-san's abilities, but he's truly strong. Even if Eru fought him right now and here, he'd be toyed with by Candy-san like a child.

"The right side, where you hold your sword, is too strong, I'd say... buuut, since it'd be a waste to let that side wither away after you've gone out of your way to train it so nicely, you have to raise the frequency of training your left side a bit more. Swordsmen always become strong on the dominant side they hold their sword, but it's better to keep the difference between both sides as little as possible." Candy-san gives Eru advice on training methods as his senior in adventuring.

Eru silently and attentively listens to his precise hints.

"If you train yourself like that, I think you'll become even more dreamy, Erwin-chan."

"Umm... since I'm... a married man..."

"Oh my, what a shame. I wonder whether I'll ever find true love."

None of us can answer Candy-san's philosophical question.

"I've got plenty of great clothes for you as well, Katia-chan."

"And here I had hoped you forgot about me over Erwin!"

"As If I'd ever do that. I mean today you're the main star, Katia-chan."

"Didn't you spend quite a bit of time on Erwin, considering that!?"

"Aww, but you see, Erwin-chan is the type of man I like."

He got sidetracked by Eru, but Candy-san hasn't forgotten that we've come here today to choose clothes for Katia.

"I've prepared some clothes that should suit you, Katia-chan."

"Clothes that should suit me?"

"Yes, I'm certain they'll look perfect on you. I've prepared them in the dressing room."

"I shall help out as well."

Katia begins to change clothes while getting help from Elise.

"Elise, am I really going to wear this?"

"What are you saying? It looks great on you."

"Somehow, it's hard to move in them..."

It's taken a bit of time for her to change, but once she's done, she comes in front of me, looking quite embarrassed.

"Candy-san, these clothes are?"

"I've come up with the design. They're gorgeous, aren't they?"

The clothes prepared for Katia are gothic and lolita, or what's commonly called, gothloli clothes. Since they use black as base color, I worried that they might overlap with Katia's hair color, but the glossy black looks pretty and fits her awfully well.

I've seen such outfits many times in my previous life, but the materials here are of a finer quality, and Candy-san hasn't cut any corners in also adding detailed embroideries and ornaments.

"Hubby, what do you think?"

"Don't you look absolutely gorgeous in them? I had my doubts about using black, but the color does suit you."

"I also think that it fits you very well. I have not worn any black clothes myself except for funerals, but these are very pleasant." Elise highly praises Katia's gothloli outfit.

Still, for him to have come up with a gothloli design all by himself... Maybe Candy-san is actually from a different world like me... no, that can't be true.

"Erwin, you say something as well."

"Ooohhh! These clothes are truly great! I wonder whether I should get them for Haruka-san as well... hmm."

Eru, what's the idea behind having your wife wear those? Or rather, praise Katia, and not the clothes, dude!

"Sorry, Erwin-chan. Currently I've only got one set of these."

They do look like they'd take some time and effort to sew. Come to think of it, almost all clothes in this store are handmade by Candy-san, aren't they?

"If this design receives good reviews, I was planning to order the tailor workshop of an acquaintance to make them for me. They're going to target young noble ladies and young wives. I also intend to prepare them in various colors."

"Speaking of price range, it seems like you're aiming for the lower end of the upper bracket, but is that because you want to secure a profit?"

"Oh my, you're rather well-informed about the business, Earl Baumeister-sama. As you might know, it's easier to make a profit by creating products aimed at nobles. Though I also plan to target the slightly richer ladies by lowering the quality a bit."

This middle-aged guy appears to be quite proficient at business.

"Hey, we're done with this, right?"

"What are you saying? You don't visit fashion stores often, do you Katia-chan? So you might as well use the opportunity to try on plenty of clothes while you're here."

"Katia, bear with it for today."

"Hubby, in reality you're the same kind of person as me, aren't you?"

"Getting someone else to prepare the clothes for you is the best!"

"So you were the same kind of person after aaall———!"

I can relate since I didn't really go shopping for clothes in my previous life either. Even when I went to small, trendy fashion stores during dates, I ended up worn out in body and mind in no time. Maybe that's the reason why I was dumped by my girlfriend.

In this world, the number of clothes I possessed in my childhood was low, and since Elise and my wives or Dominique prepare my clothes for me nowadays, I don't have to care at all.

"If you endure here for today, you might be able to avoid going shopping for clothes for around two or three years."

"That'd be a blessing, hubby."

"You two, how about showing a little bit more interest in fashion...?"

On this day Katia bought a considerably big number of clothes, including the gothloli outfit. Seeing those, it developed into Ina and the others becoming regular customers of Candy-san's store, and his store kept gaining new customers at a good rate.

* * *

At a later date.

"Candy-san, I'm ordering a set of your gothloli clothes."

"I'm really curious what kind of person Erwin-chan's wife might be. I'm looking forward to it."

Staying true to his words, Eru ordered a set of the gothloli outfit for Haruka. Recently the gothloli outfit has been spreading among women as a fashion fad.

"Vel-sama, what about the election?"

"Asking for the result in such a fixed race bears no meaning whatsoever."

"I don't get the meaning behind the vote in the first place."

"Wilma, me neither."

After the pope election was won by Cardinal Kempfeldt just as rumored, the church calmed down again.

People started to say that Cardinal Hohenheim was running the church from the shadows despite not being the pope himself, but because this also hindered the church from unnecessarily meddling with the Earl Baumeister House, you couldn't describe it as anything but cynical.

Chapter 06: The Fujibayashi Clan's Side Business, and the Beautiful Girl who Works as Shop Manager

T/N: Just as I use "houses" for noble families, I'm going to use "clan" for retainer families in Mizuho. Both could also be called "families", but I feel a distinction isn't wrong here.

* * *

Haruka's big brother and the next head of the Fujibayashi clan, Takeomi-san, arrived at the Baumeister Earldom. He was visiting to see his nephew Leon and to deliver a baby gift from the Fujibayashi clan to Haruka. On top of that, he had come here as the Fujibayashi clan had begun to sell Mizuho-native products in the Helmut Kingdom as a side business.

This business was developing better than the clan had expected, and thus Takeomi-san was scheduled to preview the planned shop site where the clan would build its branch in Baulburg.

The Fujibayashi clan achieved success in trading Mizuho tea... well, it's mostly no different from Japanese tea... nori, kombu, preserved wakame, and marine products suited for preservation. Mizuho tea had become popular among the wealthy who disliked the faint sweetness of mate tea, and the Fujibayashi's matcha tea was also on the rise as an ingredient for confectionery.

Because of Mizuho's influence, the number of patissiers using mate tea powder in sweets was ever-growing, but as many of them held the opinion that its flavor was too weak and its faint sweetness was a problem, matcha tea powder, which didn't have these issues, was becoming very popular.

Besides its demand for soup stock, kombu was praised for its great effectiveness for hair treatment just like wakame, reaching a point where people with thin hair frequently purchased it. Or rather, even within the Mizuho Dukedom it was commonly said that wakame was good for hair.

I believe it to be superstition, but since wakame and kombu are both good for health, I don't intend to argue against it. Given that it's a commodity cheap enough that it can even be bought by commoners, the buyers shouldn't go as far as saying that it's fraud because it shows no effect. If pushed I'd say that many people buy it because of its healthiness and dietetic effect.

"My nephew Leon is a real cutie. With Haruka as mother, I'm sure he'll become an expert at handling katana, too. I will also visit from time to time to teach him katana styles."

"Brother, please don't force yourself too much, okay?"

"What, it's all for the sake of my cute nephew."

The Fujibayashi clan had become a high-ranking retainer clan thanks to their achievements during the civil war, but as their expenses had grown in accordance, financial affairs have become tight. The trading the family had begun as a side business was now going well, it seems.

Takeomi-san's attire hasn't changed... no, even if it resembles the clothes he's been wearing before, the fabric and yarn used for the attire has become high grade. It looks like their side business is very profitable. Which reminds me, the celebratory gift for Leon was quite extravagant too.

I've heard that the family had Kanesada-san make Leon a katana for future use. It's nothing as exaggerated as an orichalcum katana, but seeing how it's a creation of the master smith Kanesada-san, it still enters the category of being a considerable high-class item.

A handful of nobles in the Kingdom collects Mizuho katana for their beautiful blades, and even among all the different Mizuho katana, the ones made by Kanesada-san are especially famous as works of art. In other words, it's not a katana you can obtain that easily.

"Haruka, how is your body feeling? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Elise-sama cast healing magic on me after the birth."

"Elise-sama, please allow me to thank you for the sake of my younger sister."

"Haruka-san is absolutely indispensable for the Earl Baumeister House, so it is only natural."

"I am deeply moved to hear you say that."

Haruka holds the position of being a guard for Friedrich and my other babies while also serving as their wet nurse. While taking care of my children and Leon, she's also expected to provide milk if there's a lack thereof.

Her being able to freely enter the inner area of our home as the wife of a chief retainer is also proof of our deep trust in her.

"Haruka-san is always taking good care of us."

My wives would end up with maternity neurosis if they had to take care of the children like that every day. Thus Haruka's assistance is also necessary so that they can regularly take a break by setting up a smart rotation.

"It gives me a peace of mind as her brother to see that Haruka has been accepted at the Earl Baumeister House. But..." Takeomi-san stares in wonder at Haruka's attire.

But that's only understandable since she's wearing the black gothloli outfit Eru had ordered from Candy-san. Eru had apparently forked over quite a bit of money for it, and also, the high-class materials of the outfit are of such a high quality that it doesn't seem weird for the wives of nobles and their retainers to wear them inside their mansion.

However, Takeomi-san, who's seeing this outfit for the first time, can't help wondering why his cute sister would be wearing such an outfit.

"Dear Brother-in-law, these clothes are currently in fashion in the capital."

"So you were the mastermind after aaalll!!"

Even nowadays Takeomi-san holds reservations towards Eru for having stolen his adorable sister from him. We had hoped that this aversion might wane a bit over the cuteness of his nephew, but it looks like seeing Haruka in a gothloli outfit isn't to his liking at all.

Just as in the past, he directs the brunt of his anger at Eru. At this point it might already be regarded as pathological.

"Brother-in-law, about this..."

"Who's your brother-in-law!?"

"I mean, aren't you just that...?"

Eru, you're right about it, but I think it's pointless to tell this to Takeomi-san in his current state.

After all, he doesn't see Eru as anything but an enemy who snatched his darling sister away.

"Even though Leon is such an adorable boy... you're anything but cute."

"Haah..."

Even Eru would probably be stumped if he were called cute by an older young man, so he doesn't mind that part. Still I'd like Takeomi-san to finally get used to it. I didn't expect that a sis-con would be that sinful.

"In the first place, how dare you get wives other than Haruka!"

Takeomi-san appears to also be upset over the matter with Lea and Anna. Maybe the dissatisfaction over his cute sister plays a part as well, but... Takeomi-san is still single even though he ought to take two wives at the very least...

Maybe his father doesn't make him attend marriage interviews?

"I would like you to understand that this is my duty as chief retainer of the Earl Baumeister House..."

"I know that, but still..."

I suppose it means he can rationally understand it as common sense of nobility, but emotionally he's struggling with it. As expected, sis-cons are sinful existences, indeed.

"Brother..."

"Oops, I had another important reason for coming here today."

Just when Haruka tries to caution him as she can't let her brother's behavior pass just like that, Takeomi-san quickly changes the topic. Because he's a hardcore sis-con, he must hate to get cautioned by his beloved sister.

"Thank you very much for permitting us to set up a store in the Baumeister Earldom."

Given that it's going to make the procurement of Mizuho-native products easier and because we can also expect some good tax yield out of this, it's a very welcome enterprise for our side. As the Baumeister Earldom is in the middle of having its population grow, many people possess money from all the special labor demands for the development of the territory. I'm sure the rare Mizuho-native foodstuff should be in demand as well.

"I'm planning to visit myself every now and then, but allow me to introduce the person who's going to be entrusted with the Baulburg branch store. —Akira, enter."

"——Yes."

After being called in, a lovely girl with black hair shows up in front of us.

She looks just like a boy since her hair has been cut short, but her delicate, small body would wake the urge to protect her in any man. If it's someone like her, she'll become a great poster girl... no wait, he mentioned that she'd be the one in charge of the branch store, didn't he?

"Takeomi-san, this girl is going to lead the branch store, right?"

"Yes. She's a relative of the Fujibayashi clan. Akira's grandfather from two generations ago worked as a merchant."

At that time, not all of the Fujibayashi clan, a lower warrior clan back then, served as samurai, and the children at the lower end of the clan became commoners. One of those children started a business, and Akira was the granddaughter of that man. Thus she shares a relationship of being a second cousin to Takeomi-san.

As both families are still connected with each other, they seem to help out with the Fujibayashi clan's business.

"So she does have the necessary skills."

"She's young, but she's far more proficient at business than us."

Takeomi-san is claiming that it should be the right person in the right place, but I'm kinda worried here. The city of Baulburg has many people coming and going as it's thriving, but this also draws more people with bad characters in proportion. Hence I have my doubts about assigning a girl as branch head, looking at it from the perspective of crime prevention.

Our guards have been doing their best in cracking down on lawbreakers, but to my regret there's also cases where our guards are late in arriving at a scene due to labor shortage, so if you consider the safety aspect, I think it'd be better to assign a man as branch head...

"Is that going to be alright? There are many folks with rough tempers in Baulburg." Katharina warns in my stead.

As a matter of fact, she got previously involved with ill-bred folk in the city, resulting in her blowing them away with a tornado... it was a really terrible incident.

Tristan, who had to deal with the aftermath, was in tears.

『It was their fault for acting so rudely towards me』

Katharina wasn't wrong in what she was saying, but I had to advise her to not use magic that would damage the vicinity to such an extent.

"Katharina-sama, Akira's appearance is deceiving. She's fairly strong, so it's going to be alright. Her katana techniques and ancient combat style has reached full mastery."

"Oh my, that sounds amazing. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from Haruka-san's relative."

Since she's a member of the Fujibayashi clan, she hasn't neglected her katana training. The ancient combat style is a martial art to fight barehanded when you lose your weapon on the battlefield. It resembles the Magic Combat Style, but according to what I've heard from Haruka before, its characteristic trait is to attach importance in stealing the enemy's weapon and use it against them.

"There are many Mizuho merchants who are strong enough to not lose against a samurai."

I guess they excel at techniques to protect themselves since they're going out to do their business at all kinds of places.

"But, isn't it possible that she's going to attract unnecessary trouble just by looking like a helpless girl? Maybe you should add another male employee or something like that?"

"That's planned after the business starts to run smoothly. Besides, Akira is truly strong, so you don't need to worry."

No matter how strong she might be, she's still a woman, so...

If something were to happen, it might trigger problems between us and the Duke Mizuho House.

"Well, I still think it'd be better for a man to be present as well. I feel like it's too dangerous for a woman to run a store all by herself."

It's not that I'm forcing Takeomi-san, but it's better for me to speak up here, just in case. I mean it's possible that our guards won't be on time if something happens.

"Umm... Earl Baumeister-sama."

"What is it, Takeomi-san?"

"Akira is a man."

"""""""""""Are you kidding!!!!?"""""""""""

Everyone shouts before I can say it myself. After all, it's completely unbelievable for Akira to be a guy when looking at her lovely appearance.

"Eh? A man? You're joking, right?"

"Eru-san, Akira is a man."

Eru apparently believed Akira to be a woman as well. Haruka naturally isn't surprised since she's known Akira as her relative for a long time. Thus she clearly confirms the truth of the matter to Eru.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, are his clothes not manly enough?"

"Mizuho clothes have the issue of featuring few differences between male and female wear."

"Please take a close look. Those are Mizuho clothes for men."

Since even many women are wearing Mizuho clothes with plain colors, I don't think that you could call this male wear. Certainly, Akira is wearing Mizuho clothes with low-key colors, but I think it's terrible that it doesn't feel out of place even when calling him a woman.

As I'm closely looking at Akira in his Mizuho outfit, my heart gradually begins to throb.

Yep, this is bad, seriously.

"I'm a man. I've been doing my utmost every day to become a strong Mizuho man like Takeomi-san."

"Huh? I can't really imagine that though..."

"Erwin, do you have any complaints?"

"No, it's nothing, Brother-in-law."

"Who's your brother-in-law!?"

"This again..."

Becoming like Takeomi-san? I'd like to be spared from having to deal with another sis-con. Eru must be thinking the same.

"Vel?"

"What's up, Eru?"

Just like me, Eru seems to have his heart throb as well after looking at Akira. God has probably made a mistake when making Akira a man. Even someone like me who doesn't believe in god at all, cannot help but think so.

"He's definitely a man, yep. The mana flow..."

"So you understood, Luise-sama?"

"But, it's quite difficult to tell. I've ended up straining my eyes like an old man when looking at him."

Luise has the ability to differentiate genders from the flow of mana with almost 100% certainty. However, it seems like it's difficult for her to distinguish Akira, and thus she's staring at him with her eyes narrowed.

"He has no Adam's apple..."

"Wilma-sama, despite that, I've had a proper change of voice."

"I see..."

Since Akira's voice is relatively high, it makes him seem even more like a woman. He appears to keep investing a lot of effort in trying to overturn that, but no matter how much swordsmanship he studies and even if his insides are manly, his appearance... is no different from a woman in the end.

"It sure is nice to have such fair skin..."

Ina cannot help being envious of Akira's fair skin. It's the biggest distress for women who're working as adventurers. Since they're always outside, their hair and skin roughens.

Because they've just given birth, our women have been devoting themselves to tending their hair and skin, but since Akira's skin, which likely doesn't go through any particular care in the first place, is prettier than anyone else's, Inna appears to be jealous.

"Indeed, it is truly unfair for you to have skin that is more beautiful than those of women."

Since Amalie-san has already passed the age's turning point for the skin, she's staring at Akira's youthful skin with eyes full of envy.

"Good grief, people can never obtain what they want to obtain."

"His hair is silky and pretty as well..."

"Indeed. Though it does look like the person in question doesn't seem to care overly much..."

Therese and Lisa are also enviously looking at Akira's skin and hair.

"My skin never tans no matter how much I train my swordsmanship under the blazing sun. I'm not building any muscles at all either... I want to become manly with lots of muscles and a tanned skin."

Even if he's being envied by our female camp, Akira himself doesn't desire all of this.

Still, I find it cute how Akira desperately insists on his own thoughts with his voice lowered.

"Well, no matter how womanly he might look, in the end he's a man. He can't win against me in loveliness."

Katharina seems to be quite confident of herself, but Akira and her are two totally different types to begin with. Katharina, the gorgeous-type of beauty, and Akira who possess a cuteness that makes you want to protect him... I think it's kinda amazing that he's being called a man under these circumstances.

"Booboo———oh! It's your loss when it comes to cuteness, Katharina."

"Wilma-san, sheesh. I've been raised since my childhood while being called cute by the people of my territory and my deceased parents."

"That's no more than a parent's partiality. Most people would identify Akira as cuter between you two."

All of a sudden Wilma starts to take a majority vote, but everyone except for Katharina raises their hand in favor. The same applies to me as well since I cannot lie to myself.

"Wendelin-san! Why don't you raise your hand for your own wife!?"

"Eeeehhh? Why are you singling me out? Aren't all the others doing the same?"

Getting reproached by Katharina, I feel mistreated.

"Are you saying that I'm not cute, Wendelin-san?"

"Now listen... Katharina, you've married me and become a mother. You ought to display beauty as an adult woman, and not the cuteness of a little girl. Akira, you're unmarried, right?"

"Yes."

"It's pointless to compete with Akira. As a married woman you need to exude a different kind of charm."

"I guess you've got a point..."

I managed to successfully deceive her. Nevertheless, Akira is really sweet which wakes the feeling in me to help him. Even after hearing that he's a man, I feel like I'll forget it right away if I just look at her... err, him for a bit...

Bah, what stupid things am I thinking. Akira is a man, for god's sake!

"Vel, Akira looks quite strong, so I think it'll be fine. Or is there anything else worrying you?"

Luise assesses Akira to have good abilities with her intuition as a martial artist.

She expects that Akira will be okay with running the store herself.

But you know, Luise... even I won't harbor any romantic feelings towards a man. I have many wives, and am generally regarded as lustful man. I'm lacking a bit of confidence... yeah right, as if!

"The store will be of smaller scale at first, allowing us to see how things go. Akira is strong, so it'll be okay."

"Please look after me."

Due to these circumstances, a Fujibayashi-run store dealing with dried provisions and tea opened in Baulburg.

* * *

"Vel, it looks like Fujibayashi Dried Goods is a huge success."

"That's wonderful news."

Several days later, Luise, who had headed out to the city of Baulburg on business, reported to me the state of Fujibayashi's store that opened just the other day.

It sounds like they have many customers with their tea and nori being quite popular.

"Well, it'd be a disaster if a store that just opened had no customers at all. I'd say they've cleared the first hurdle."

When a new store opens, customers will visit at first out of curiosity. Every once in a while new stores fail right from the start, but most of the time such stores are closed down within a short period of time.

I think the most common pattern is for the number of customers to decline a short while after the hype over it being new dies down. In other words, the biggest hurdle is the question of how many regular customers they can secure with their business.

"Sheesh, Vel, your view is quite harsh."

"A shop immediately goes out of business if they become careless."

In my previous life it wasn't unusual for stores to go bankrupt within several years. Probably because the available demand is low in this world, new stores often fail. Even if they might be selling the recently popular Mizuho-native products, they need to stay on their toes.

"But you know, I think they're going to be alright."

"You sound quite confident there, Luise."

"I mean, look, doesn't that store have a poster girl?"

Poster girl, eh...? Certainly, Akira's outward appearance invites people to mistake him for a woman, but he's still a full-fledged man. Though I think it'd be rude to tell him that.

"I went to take a look on my way back home, but the shop was full of men."

"That's totally weird."

After all, Akira is running a dried goods store. I think even men would buy tea, but the main customer base should be women who use nori and dried ingredients for cooking.

"Did they hire a professional cook or something like that?"

Akira might be trying to gain new customers by using the rare Mizuho foodstuff as an advertisement. Then again, I doubt that only male restaurant owners would visit as customers.

"Even if that was true, it'd be odd for no female customers to be there."

"True that..."

Since I was slightly curious, I took Luise and Wilma, who was with us, along to visit the shop in question.

* * *

"Welcome, right now we've a special bargain sale for the first tea of the season."

The shopkeeper Akira is advertising the first Mizuho tea of the season to customers in front of Fujibayashi Dried Goods. The scene resembles what I've seen around tea dealers in my previous life, but since Akira completely looks like a charming woman with his apron and Mizuho attire, male customers are swarming towards him like bees to a flower.

"It's okay to also add it to a tea pot with mate tea. Given that it's not sweet, it feels refreshing in your mouth. It also goes well with meals. When it's hot outside, it's best to drink it cold."

Akira seems to be decent at doing business, recommending the tea to one customer after the other. More than half of those customers buy the tea from him.

"Men are simple creatures."

"Wilma, please don't say that since it's pitiful..."

Akira is a guy, but I think only a few men would refuse when recommended tea by such a cute guy. If it's something at the level of a sampling pack with a small amount of tea, it's not overly expensive, resulting in many people buying one.

"Vel, I see many faces I recognize."

"Argh!"

Many of our retainers are here... Tristan, Moritz, Thomas... and several others... Or rather, is Baulburg's guard unit still alright?

When it comes to Thomas, he should be in charge of the tunnel.

"Hey, you guys..."

"Milord, have you also come to buy Mizuho tea?"

"I'll buy it and go back home, but what about your work?"

"Vel, we're going to buy and leave then."

Luise sharply retorts, but it's not like I got seduced by Akira's charm or anything... rather, a guy has no sex appeal for me whatsoever.

"Well, it's the season for the first tea after all."

"Indeed, the season for the first tea is important."

"What are you blathering about? It doesn't matter when you drink something like tea in the first place..."

Since it's run by the Fujibayashi clan, the first tea leaves of the Mizuho Dukedom's main tea production areas are timely gathered. It's only natural for me to buy it since I love drinking Mizuho tea over mate tea when eating sweet stuff during my afternoon snack.

"Vel-sama, they're selling the first pick of Uji tea."

"Oooh! Uji tea is great!"

I feel slightly conflicted about it sounding similar to a Japanese gunboat, despite it being the most famous tea production area in the Mizuho Dukedom, but Uji tea is very tasty. I'll buy some for Elise and the others as well before going back home.

"So? What about your work?"

"Please do not worry. I am properly visiting during break time."

"Same here."

"I came to Baulburg for a report, but I thought that I'd buy a souvenir for Nikolaus and the others on my way back..."

It's not like the three are skipping out on work, and since they discovered a new shop during their rest time, they simply ended up joining in on the sampling.

It looks like it's the same for many of the men here. All of them are tasting Mizuho tea with happiness written on their faces.

Do they know that Akira is a man? ... I think it'd be better for me not to ask since it's slightly scary.

"It's your free choice to do whatever you like during your rest time... Ah, I'm also going to buy some nori."

"If you're looking for nori, it's over here." Akira shows me various sorts of nori, but their prices are all over the place.

"When it comes to nori, the ones with a deep, glossy color are good. Also..."

Akira lightly warms a nori that seems to be the most expensive one above a flame for me. Thereupon its color turns into a deep green, a proof for it being excellent nori.

The president of a nori wholesale told me so in my previous life.

"It's better to have good nori when using it for onigiri."

"Indeed. You can eat it just like that after all. This one has a high quality that fully justifies its price."

Speaking of onigiri, I had to actually endure eating onigiri without nori until we started to import it from the Mizuho Dukedom. I remember that I tried to wrap the onigiri up in leaf vegetables that I bought in Breitburg, using leaf mustard onigiri as reference, in the past, but that ended in tragedy.

Onigiri without nori are delicious as well, but they're still lacking something, no matter what you say. Nowadays we can trade with the Mizuho Dukedom, so you can get nori at stores in Baulburg. In other words, I can freely make onigiri with nori at any time I want to. On top of that, I can also make other Japanese food that uses nori.

"I'd like to have some furikake, too."

"We have bonito, okaka, plums, wasabi, shiso wakame, and jako. Moreover, we have high-quality furikake that hasn't been dried on stock, too. Please feel free to sample it."

Whoa, Akira has even prepared cooked rice for me. I sample the various dried furikake in order after placing it on the rice.

It's an extremely nice taste, reminding me of my previous life. The high-class furikake, which has the characteristic of still being moist, is wonderful as well. The other types also are magnificent in taste, shaking my spirit as Japanese.

"I'll buy all of them."

"Thank you for your purchase."

I'm the super rich Earl Baumeister, so I have more than enough leeway to buy large amounts of high-quality nori and furikake.

"Do you have mochi?"

"Yes, we do. That and also roasted soybean flour. Our adzuki beans come from a producing area considered to be the best in Mizuho."

Mochi, roasted soybean flour, adzuki beans — it's impossible for me to miss out on this supreme combination. I can also get them in the Kingdom, but once you get to know the good stuff...

You have to carefully boil the bought adzuki beans after quenching them in water.

"It sure sounds like you have all kinds of goods. But, it's time for today... I'll come back again soon."

I ended up buying more than I had expected, but I was able to get my hands on many good ingredients. Thus I decided that I'd frequently visit this store from now on.

"Vel... you... because Akira is cute..."

"Don't lump me together with Tristan and the others!"

I have no interest in men. No matter how much he looks like a woman, I'm no homosexual.

"But you know, you looked very happy when he gave you food to sample. Just like Tristan and the others."

That's not true either. I was just happy that I could get so much good foodstuff at a new store. The aspect of being able to sample the food also tickled my buyer's heart quite a bit.

"You understand me, don't you Wilma? That store has lots of good merchandise."

"They have a lot of nice foodstuff in stock."

"See!? Wilma understands what I mean!"

"But, too many customers visit after being attracted by Akira."

"Listen to me for heaven's sake! Don't lump me together with those guys!"

I was ultimately charmed by nothing other than the store's goods. It's unthinkable that I bought the goods after getting lured in by Akira, the poster girl... wait he's no damn poster girl!... is what I continued to emphasize.

* * *

"Well, it's not like I can't understand your feelings on this. It looks like some guys don't believe that Akira is a guy even when you clearly tell them."

"Shut up, Eru. I won't give you any onigiri."

"I'm not saying that you bought lots of foodstuff because you got tempted by Akira's allure, Vel."

"Oooh! So you believe me, Eru?"

"You've always been like that ever since I've got to know you.

We're chatting while eating a big serving of nori onigiri for dinner. Just as Luise said, Fujibayashi Dried Goods is a huge success thanks to the poster girl Akira.

Once you approach the store after getting attracted to him, you'll be given a tea cup with tea for sampling. Given that Akira looks like a beautiful girl, no one turns him down, and after drinking that tea, a certain number of people usually buys the tea.

Moreover, a fixed number of customers appear who have interest in the other goods in the store. These customers are allowed to sample the foodstuff by Akira, and then... rinse and repeat, a truly frightening loop.

Takeomi-san has come up with quite the clever business method... yea right, I can't believe that he'd aim for that. He mentioned that he's nothing more than a financier as he isn't overly skilled at business.

"It seems like everyone knows that Akira is a man."

"Eh? Really?"

Ina reveals a shocking truth.

"Akira is a man, but the other men don't mind since they can spend some time in supreme bliss if it's just talking and drinking tea."

Certainly, it's true that you easily forget about Akira being a man if you talk with him while drinking his tea.

"Did Tristan and the other guys go there knowing that Akira is a man...?"

"Looks like it."

Do they possibly have some issues back at home or something? For them to frequent the store of a man in search of soothing...

Won't their wives get angry at them if they find out?

"But, isn't it the same for you as well, Vel?"

"Hey!"

I swiftly retorted at Ina's question. I've been simply going there since I like that store and want its goods. If you consider that it's an ordinary dried goods store, their business model is interesting since it's a small-scale business run by the rising Fujibayashi clan and their relatives. It's been a while since I last got excited when going to a shop.

"Isn't your frequency of visits rather high compared to other shops?"

"It's because they've got events."

Yep, one day Akira taught a classroom how to make dashi. He made dashi out of katsuobushi and kombu, and let us sample it afterwards. I immediately bought it on the spur of the moment, but the miso soup made out if it was really delicious.

As expected, genuine dashi is a class of its own.

I also struggled until I became able to make miso by myself, but there's many aspects where the miso sold at Fujibayashi Dried Goods is out of reach for me. The price for their soy sauce is expensive, but I've ended up using theirs for my cooking.

I think extravagances like this are fine since I'm Earl Baumeister.

"I'm going to head over today as well since Akira said he'd boil preserved food in soy."

"And then you're going to buy it, eh...?"

"I mean it's a lot tastier than the one I make myself..."

Preserved food boiled in soy (tsukudani) is a difficult dish. Anyone can make it, but it's hard to make it so that it's tasty.

It is rare to find a dish that changes so much depending on subtle flavors. I happened to eat tsukudani in a well-established restaurant during my previous life, and I gotta say, that was truly delicious.

In the past I made tsukudani myself as a side dish for cooked rice and garnish for onigiri, but the ones sold at Fujibayashi Dried Goods are tastier. They've got a big variety, and Akira procures the products from Mizuho on his own discretion or makes them himself.

Since rice is eaten in the continent's south, tsukudani that fits well with rice is in demand. The ordinary folks also eat it as a side dish for rice and garnish for onigiri, but even adventurers have started to visit the store to buy it as preserved food.

Parties that don't have magicians with magic bags can't prepare too luxurious food. The cases where parties bring onigiri with them or cook rice, make a soup and then use tsukudani as a side dish are increasing.

Mizuho-native tsukudani is expensive as a high-class item, but since Akira is making cheap tsukudani with ingredients locally procured at Baulburg and its circumference, that one is selling really well.

"Even though it's a dried goods store, it's also selling tsukudani, eh?"

"I think you'd call that adapting yourself to the situation."

"Since it also has lots of saltiness which is good for preservation, it's definitely true that it's ideal for adventurers."

"That said, I'm going to Fujibayashi Dried Goods... I must go. Ina, you coming with me?"

"I guess I'll give it a go since it sounds interesting."

"Ah, I'll come with you as well!" Katia exclaims.

* * *

Once Ina, Katia and I get close to Fujibayashi Dried Goods, a nice aroma of boiled tsukudani wafts over to us from the storefront.

As business is thriving, Akira apparently increased the employees in a hurry, but it's Akira himself who's cooking the tsukudani. He's been saying that he's aiming to become manly, but with him being skilled at cooking and even being really good at making tsukudani, he seems to be mistaken for a woman even more often than before.

"Oh... say, Katia, Ina, that person is...?"

"A person I've never expected to find here..."

"He really stands out even when seen from a distance... well, it makes sense since he's a tall guy, though not as much as Doushi."

"I don't think that the size of his body plays any role in his case though? He's got way too many other parts that stand out..."

Two circles of people had formed in front of the store. One consisted of men trying to receive tsukudani samples from Akira, and the other one hosted women who were encouraged to try the tsukudani by Candy-san who wore a white apron atop the same Mizuho-styled attire Akira wore.

Just when... or rather, is his store in the capital going to be alright?

"Oh my, fancy to see you here, Earl Baumeister-sama. Ina-chan, Katia-chan, nice to see you as well."

I suppose you should expect as much from a former elite adventurer. He immediately calls out to us as if having homed in on his prey.

"Candy-san, I have various questions such as what about your clothing store or why you are at this store..."

"My store is going to be fine since I've hired a trustable shop manager. I was thinking about doing the same as this shop does in the capital. I love cooking after all."

Candy-san succeeded in negotiating an import of Mizuho-native products with Takeomi-san whom he met in the capital by coincidence, and apparently plans to launch a store similar to Fujibayashi Dried Goods. Because of that he came to this store to study, or rather get training in service, he explained.

"So you're skilled at cooking as well, huh...?"

"Oh, welcome, Earl Baumeister-sama. I've allowed Candy-san to come here to train his service, but there's nothing left I can teach him anymore."

"I see."

On top of being a professional when it comes to sewing, he's also good at cooking... at this point it might be more correct to call him a mother than a girl.

"Still, for you to have expressly come all the way here to Baulburg; it must have cost you quite a bit of money."

These days the fare costs a bit less because the number of magic airships and flights have increased, but it still remains a fact that traveling with a magic airship is an expensive luxury. Considering the number of days it'd take, I can't believe that Candy-san has come here by carriage, so I've ended up thinking that he must have been quite eager to come here for training to pay such a big amount of money.

"I've been working as an adventurer for a long time and since I was fairly popular during that time, I've saved quite a bit of money, but since I need those funds for my business, I'm being frugal with my spending. When I've heard that an acquaintance, who can use 『Teleport』, would go to Baulburg for business, I took advantage of that opportunity."

"As always, you're a really well-connected man..."

I suppose you should expect as much from a former elite adventurer. Seeing how he's earned Katia's admiration, Candy-san's network must be surprisingly big.

"(And he's extremely popular among women.)"

Just like Elise, women draw back when meeting Candy-san for the first time, but since this guy is really skilled at taking care of women down to the finer details, they immediately warm up to him.

Even at this very moment, the female customers are getting all excited as they talk with him about cooking tips, makeup and somewhat stylish outfits, and the recent fashion trends in the capital, while he simultaneously recommends the women various goods, resulting in the merchandise selling very well.

The division of placing the male customers with Akira and the female ones with Candy-san is perfect, and has led to the shop being crowded by lots of customers.

"(They're definitely a great duo.)"

"(No kidding...)"

Akira and Candy-san are obviously an odd combination, but it looks like they're in perfect sync.

"Aren't you selling some new products or something like that right now?"

"We do, Barayso sprouts. Candy-san has recommended them to me. When I tried asking him about local foodstuffs that could be procured cheaply, he told me about these sprouts. That's a former elite adventurer for you. He's fairly well-traveled."

"Being able to immediately cook a new ingredient so proficiently speaks of your high skills, Shopkeeper Akira."

It seems like these two are truly compatible with each other.

By the way, barayso is a plant that's somewhere between being a medicinal plant and a wild grass. It's said to have a positive effect on your stomach, and thus it's also used as digestive medicine in its dried version. However, since it's growing in heaps in the continent's south, many people eat it instead of vegetables. The sprouts are especially delicious, and because they'll regrow one month after harvesting, adventurers often pick them up and use them for cooking.

"A tsukudani made out of barayso sprouts, huh...?"

Wow, I haven't thought of that at all.

"Tsukudani is a dish for preserving left-over food in the first place. Please have a taste."

"Thanks."

"Give me some too!"

"Me too."

Once Akira hands out tsukudani samples, even more customers begin to swarm to the storefront.

"Here you go, it tastes great."

At first everyone was startled by Candy-san, but they've become accustomed to him in no time, or rather, since he's good at handling people, everyone has quickly stopped worrying about his eccentric appearance.

"It's got a tinge of a bitter taste, so it's got more of an adult taste."

"Just as the rumors say, you really like new, delicious foodstuff, don't you Earl Baumeister-sama?"

So rumors about me have spread all the way to Candy-san's place, huh?

"It appears to be a hit. It might also go well with alcohol as a side dish."

Today Fujibayashi Dried Goods has lined up many kinds of tsukudani in the name of a tsukudani special sale. Since many of them are imported from Mizuho, they are fairly expensive. Especially the ones using tuna and eel are very expensive.

Even in my previous life, 100 gram usually cost several thousand yen. Well, I still bought them though.

"Vel... is that alright?"

"That?"

"Hubby, aren't those insects?"

The custom of eating insects doesn't exist on this continent, except for the Mizuho Dukedom. Some of the tsukudani were made out of insects. Since these are a kind of delicacy, the store hasn't stocked huge amounts of them, but because they're precious, I decided to buy them.

"Vel, that's okay?"

"Eh? They're delicious, you know?"

Their appearance is a bit hard to look at for women, but stuff like grasshopper tsukudani is really good...

"Since I bought them, you can just see for yourself later. They're pretty good."

"No, I'm fine without testing them out..."

"Me too..."

When being in a dire situation where it's hard to obtain food as an adventurer, it boosts your survival rate a lot if you can eat insects, you know...?

That means Ina and Katia are normal women who are afraid of insects.

"They're delicious, but I'm a girl, so I'm not good with insects."

But you've still been sampling them extensively, haven't you...?

Being told by Candy-san that he's bad with insects kinda lacks persuasiveness...

"Even among Mizuho people, many hate insect tsukudani. On the other hand, some people also like them very much."

At this point Akira smoothly follows up on my wives. I'd like to believe that... kind men are popular, but Akira doesn't seem to be overly popular with women.

Then again it makes sense since a man who's cuter than the woman herself is bound to trigger an identity crisis for her. Even if they were to go on a date in the city, it'd look like two women having some fun together, so it probably wouldn't seem like much of a date.

"I tried to make tsukudani out of the mushrooms that can be found around here. Please have a try. I'm still not very acquainted with the mushrooms in this area, so I asked Candy-san to pick them out for me."

"I know a lot about mushrooms since I've often used them for cooking when camping out."

Akira also takes out some tsukudani made out of Baumeister Earldom-native mushrooms for sampling.

It's difficult to tell mushrooms apart, but it looks like Candy-san flexed his abilities here.

"Sweet."

"It's delicious since the food texture of hamitake has been properly preserved."

"You're right. It awakens the urge in me to eat it together with rice."

For tsukudani it's indispensable to change the way of cooking and the mixture of seasonings depending on the ingredients. As it looks like Akira has run various tests before presenting it to us, it's a very good dish, and Ina and Katia are also enjoying its taste.

"I also made test products with small beeches and loaches. Please have a taste."

"This is really great too."

Because these tsukudani are fairly cheap as something cooked by Akira himself while using local ingredients, these have been selling quite well. The customers, who tasted the tsukudani, kept purchasing them like hot cakes.

Tsukudani doesn't go well with bread, but since the people of the Baumeister Earldom have a rather rice-based diet because I set up paddy fields all over the place, many people buy the tsukudani as accompaniment for rice dishes.

Still, I think Akira's business sense is really a force to reckon with. For Candy-san to be so great at business on top of having been a remarkable adventurer is also quite shocking.

"I'll splurge and buy eel tsukudani!"

"I want some clam tsukudani!"

Once again Tristan and the others show up during their break time, and after sampling the tsukudani, they buy the ones they liked. It appears they've become regular customers already, seeing how they don't mind Candy-san who stands next to Akira.

They happily receive the food samples from Akira, and faithfully keep buying the store's merchandise. They're using the pretext of these being souvenirs for their families since they received their salary today, but it's pretty obvious that they've come here to get comforted by Akira.

"Do Tristan and the others have problems at home or something?"

I'd like to be spared from them having family issues while still being newlywed. Even if they were to seek my advice, I have no experience on how to deal with such matters.

"Hubby, it's said that a lot goes on when you build a family and have children. I think it'd be best to kindly watch over them while keeping quiet about it."

"You might be right..."

"Ah such things do happen, don't they...?"

Does Katia know so much about this because she has witnessed something similar back home? Candy-san... he has no family, has he?

"Oh right, there's also shigeruni."

Next, Akira recommends shigeruni to us. Shigeruni is a kind of tsukudani, just with ginger added to it. It also exists in the Mizuho Dukedom, and Akira has stocked on shigeruni that had been stewed with clams and monster meat.

When I sample it, its taste closely resembles beef shigeruni. It seems it uses monster meat that's similar in meat quality to beef. Of course Akira also sells beef shigeruni, but since livestock meat is very expensive, that kind of shigeruni is one of the most expensive goods in his store.

"Having said that, it'd be a loss to not buy this."

"In the end you bought all types..."

"It's fine, isn't it? They're long-lasting goods."

Rather than that, being able to eat my favorite tsukudani whenever I feel like it has more value to me.

"Doesn't freshness play no role if you put it into your magic bag...?"

"With that said, it's not like we can make tsukudani out in the fields when going on a trip as adventurers. So I need a stock of tsukudani! Oh right! Akira!"

"Yes?"

"...Can you make this kind of food?"

"...I think it should be possible."

* * *

Several days after requesting a new product from Akira and him finishing it, I departed to the Demon Forest as an adventurer for the first time in a while. As all my wives were taking a rest, I formed a temporary party with Eru, Doushi, and Burkhart-san for today.

Doushi ended up drawing a lot of attention by the adventurers lining up at the same reception desk in the Demon Forest adventurer guild branch, which became quite luxurious after its reconstruction, but he didn't really mind it, and no one dared to chat him up because of his appearance and aura.

"The number of adventurers has grown, and so has their quality. However, a lot of requests for meat and materials still remain undone. Fruits and medicinal plants seem to be slightly lacking, too."

"Our main goal for today is to hunt. I would like you to not expect us to harvest stuff!"

After finishing our business at the reception, the four of us moved to the deepest part of the Demon Forest.

"Just as usual, this forest is teeming with tons of monsters! Them not being overly calculative rocks too!"

"Not calculative... we're not fishing here, you know...?"

The forest houses a great number of monsters, but since Doushi one-hits most of them, we're not all that busy.

"This is a totally unexpected blind spot."

Burkhart-san hasn't been able to participate in the hunt for the most part either, and is currently drinking from the canteen he took out of his magic bag.

"Is that wine, Burkhart-san?"

"No, I wouldn't drink alcohol during a hunt. My wife made tea for me."

Every once in a while you hear about adventurers hunting while drinking alcohol, but when it comes to the level of an elite adventurer like Burkhart-san, they won't show any openings.

Going by the imagination of adventuring, it's not unnatural to hunt while drinking booze.

"However, this mate tea has the downside of being slightly sweet."

"How about this tea then?"

I pass a flask with cooled Mizuho tea to Burkhart-san after taking it out of my magic bag.

"This is quite delicious thanks to its moderate bitterness. Mizuho tea, huh? I didn't think that you could also drink it cold."

Burkhart-san happily drains down the Mizuho tea.

"Vel, no monsters are headed our way, really."

"Well, it's only natural, I guess."

As the Destroyer Doushi beats monsters to death, it creates pools of blood and piles of corpses around him, which then results in even more monsters being drawn to the blood. Thanks to this, almost no monsters are coming our way.

"The guild folk said that they lack fruits and medicinal plants, didn't they?"

"I guess we should use the time to gather those then."

Eru, Burkhart-san, and I killed time until lunch by picking up fruits, medicinal plants, and mushrooms.

"I am hungry!"

Just when it was time for lunch, Doushi came over with an empty stomach after having gone berserk until now... Well, if you go on such a rampage, it's only normal to get hungry, I suppose.

Also, he hasn't prepared a meal for himself since we're with him. Doushi's eyes are clearly demanding to hand over the grub.

"Doushi, you never know what might happen, so prepare some food for yourself at least."

"Of course I have prepared some emergency rations! But! It is common sense to not touch upon those under normal circumstances! Earl Baumeister, I want to eat onigiri!"

So he wants onigiri, eh...?

"Was that your goal from the very start?"

Currently, the onigiri are tremendously popular among the adventurers working in the Baumeister Earldom. They're delicious, easy to eat, very flexible on the fillings, and it's difficult to overeat. Although I think it doesn't really matter what you eat as you'll feel stuffed if you eat too much of anything. Onigiri also have the advantage that it's easy to adjust how much you eat. They're also great as you can eat them with one hand during times when you can't take it easy with the meal.

"That's no problem since I've created many of them."

We begin to eat our lunch within a 『Magic Barrier』. Large monsters persistently scratch away at the barrier, but since I haven't used much of my mana today, I've got more than enough leeway.

"The onigiri are delicious, but they are somewhat small for me."

I'm sure I have shaped them into normal-sized ones, but it looks like that's unsatisfying for Doushi. He's eating several at once, desperately trying to fill his stomach.

"The salty-sweet ones are great!"

It seems that Doushi has taken an extreme liking to the onigiri with a kombu tsukudani filling.

"It's a Mizuho-native ingredient."

"Ooohhh! They have become a rumor even in the capital! I also hear that you are often going to the dried goods store in Baulburg because you are infatuated with the female shopkeeper, Earl Baumeister."

"Hey, hey, just a second there!"

I'm going to the store because I've fallen in love with Akira? Akira being a guy is a famous story in the Baumeister Earldom, but it looks like he's regarded as a woman in the capital.

"It's become such a rumor?"

"Quite so! Everyone is gossiping that even Earl Baumeister is a normal guy!"

Normal guy... what did they think I was until now?

"Doushi, the shopkeeper of the dried goods store is a guy."

Eru informs Doushi of the truth in my stead as I've become dumbfounded, but I sure hadn't expected for such a rumor to crop up.

"Unbelievable!"

Surprised by Eru's explanation, Doushi tosses all the onigiri in his hands into his mouth, and suddenly grabs my shoulders.

"Earl Baumeister, men are off-limits! It will become a scandal if Cardinal Hohenheim hears of it!"

"I'm a married man, and I'm only going to that store for its goods!"

Around the time I managed to clear up Doushi's misunderstanding, a huge amount of onigiri had ended up in his belly.

Come to think of it, I haven't eaten a single one myself yet. Wait, was it actually his plan to deliberately upset me so that he could use that opportunity to eat all the onigiri?

"My share of the onigiriiiiii!"

"Vel, I do have some bread with me, if you want!"

"You think bread fits with miso soup, or what!?!"

"Well, even if you tell me..."

I've also brought the instant miso soup I requested from Akira with me on this trip. Given that it's difficult to freeze-dry the ingredients, I've added kombu powder and parched rice flour to miso as a replacement for dashi, and put wakame, drained tofu, spring onion, and clam into it as garnish. After putting the necessary amount into cups with a spoon, I poured hot water on it, completing the miso soup.

Because it's not freeze-dried, the preservation is troublesome, but I have a magic bag. Thus I could preserve even an instant miso soup with raw miso without much of a problem. That means you can make a warm soup by just pouring hot water on the ingredients and soup stock replacement while omitting the time and effort of cooking.

However, vinyl or sealed plastic pouches don't exist in this world. Carrying and preserving it without a magic bag comes with all kinds of issues.

"Shiiit! I'll splurge on the miso soup while using bread then!"

Croutons go surprisingly well with miso soup.

With Doushi having eaten up all the onigiri, the intended main star of this lunch, I cut up the bread into cubes of around one centimeter side length with 『Wind Cutter』, sprinkle them with oil, and roast them well after transforming my fire magic into the shape of a burner. As soon as the bread has turned into savory croutons, they become a wonderful garnish once added to the miso soup.

"The crunchy croutons and the croutons, which have become soft after soaking in the soup, are both delicious."

"Earl-sama, it's not like I taught you how to control your magic so that you could improve your cooking..."

"Burkhart-san, this also counts as training. You're also going to drink the miso soup, aren't you?"

"Argh! That cursed Doushi has eaten up everyone's share of onigiri!"

Since just one onigiri is not enough for Burkhart-san, Eru, and me, we're stuck with satisfying our hunger with miso soup that contains croutons.

"Earl Baumeister, you should prepare a lot more onigiri when I am with you!"

And the perpetrator of this, Doushi, showed not a sliver of remorse, heartily gulping down his share of miso soup.

* * *

"This store, huh? I guess I'll buy some souvenirs and go back home."

"Souvenirs for your wife... you sure have changed, Burkhart-san."

"Eru-lad, you're going to do just the same as well, aren't you?"

"Well, after all, we earned a good amount of cash for the first time in a while today."

The 『The Thrilling Man-only Monster Slaying Tournament』 by us four has come to an end... We left most of the killing to Doushi, and focused on gathering instead, but... since all of that has become a nice profit, we decided to buy some souvenirs at Akira's store before going back home.

Akira asked me to tell him my impressions of today's instant miso soup, so this is yet another reason for me going to his store.

"Doushi, does the capital have no such store?"

"There exists a dried goods store funded by Mizuho! But! They do not have such a big assortment like this place here!"

It's a major company's dried goods store that seems to sell wholesale, and it doesn't offer anything interesting for people who don't usually cook. Because the Fujibayashi family is small, they're selling their goods by drawing customers through things like cooking shows, sampling and teaching of recipes for dried goods, and tea sampling. In short, they're running their business while being highly flexible.

However, since Takeomi-san doesn't have the skill to come up with such ideas, it's being handled by Akira himself. He's got a terrifying management ability, despite being so young.

Even though Baulburg can be expected to expand in the future, the number of customers falls short in comparison to the capital, and yet Akira's store is a huge success, scaling that disadvantage with ease.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, what is your impression of the miso soup?"

"The taste was good. The downside is just as expected: adventurers without a magic bag can't easily bring it with them on expeditions."

"So the problem lies there after all, huh? Since it's miso, I think it can last a long time, so there's no choice but to store it in a small container, and then put the necessary amount into a cup with a spoon."

This world has limited options for preservation, so doing it like that is the only alternative. Since it'd be difficult to make the miso soup after obtaining the dashi on-site, this method should work as a workaround.

"I'd also like to research the ingredients a bit more."

"Oh my! Ron-chan and Burkhart-chan! Long time no seeeeee!"

""Ron-chan?""

""Ugh!""

As Akira and I have been chatting, Candy-san, who's still continuing his assistance and training, shows up from within the store, and calls out to Burkhart-san and Doushi who are next to me.

For a change, the two veterans can't hide their surprise over the sudden reunion. Which reminds me, I forgot to tell them about Candy-san training at this store.

Still, if it comes to Candy-san, he adds a -chan even to Doushi's name, eh...?

"Aren't you kinda mean to me even though it's been such a long time, Ron-chan, Burkhart-chan?"

"Sorry, I just got startled by the suddenness."

Burkhart-san immediately apologizes, but Doushi seems to still be frozen.

Could it be that he's bad at dealing with Candy-san since he was taken care of by Candy-san in the past? Or maybe Candy-san got hold of another weakness of Doushi that remained unmentioned in the previous story about their past... that's very likely, I think.

"Calling him Ron-chan is amazing. "So far as it goes", he's the Royal Head Wizard."

"Erwin-chan, you're quite nasty yourself, aren't you? Ron-chan because of Armstrong. It's a nickname I created myself. Ron-chan had decent abilities as an adventurer since his early days, but he was unfamiliar with the common sense of society because of his upbringing as a young noble master. I coached him for a bit."

"...Long time no see..."

Having finally rebooted, Doushi greets Candy-san while using honorific speech for a change.

"Aww, spare me that. Ron-chan, you meanie. It's so not like you to be so serious. Still, I must admit that you've become quite docile, Ron-chan."

"I have been docile from the start..."

Going by the story I've heard from him before, I don't really think that's true... After meeting Candy-san, Doushi has become as meek as a lamb.

Is it a failure from his youth? A youthful indiscretion? I feel like Doushi is so bad at dealing with Candy-san because Candy-san knows some dirt about him.

"(It sure is surprising to find a person Doushi has trouble to handle.)"

"(That inevitable after having gotten so indebted, isn't it?)"

"(It's because all kinds of things happened in Doushi's youth...)

Burkhart-san, we are aware of that as well...

"(But, this is quite convenient...)"

For Doushi to have been so bad at dealing with Candy-san despite having received so many favors from him in the past; it's good that we came to this store on the way back home.

"Candy-san, how was Doushi in his youth?"

"Hmm, let's see... We were in the same party when Ron-chan started out as an adventurer, but contrary to his appearance, he immediately fell in love with any pretty girl he ran across. Because that often resulted in troubles, it was a pain for me and our party members from back then as we had to follow up on him. I mean, the cafe's girl whom Ron-chan liked so dearly is now working as a poster girl for the same cafe. Also, he always got in fights with rowdy adventurers right away, so I had to pick him up at the guard house the next day many times over—"

"—I believe we can leave it at that for now!"

It looks like there are still many old stories he doesn't want to tell us. Doushi forced his way into our conversation, interrupting Candy-san.

"For Candy-dono to work at this store... I'm sure it has to be quite reassuring. By the way, Shopkeeper, what are you going to do today?"

"Are you an acquaintance of Candy-san? I have allowed him to come here under the pretext of getting training in the service area, but there's nothing left I could teach him at this point. Accordingly, I have him help me with the creation of a new menu. Do you remember? We have a fish dealer in Baulburg, right?"

"Long time no see."

"Ah! It's the lady who got her panties stolen through the summoning magic!"

"I feel honored for you to remember me, Earl Baumeister-sama, but I'd appreciate it very much if you could avoid mentioning that incident..."

The famous fish monger from the capital opened a branch store in Baulburg, and Delia, the woman who had been working at the sorcery guild, is acting as its shopkeeper. She's the daughter of the fishmonger, and after quitting her job at the sorcery guild, she opened a fish store over here.

I recalled how Mr. Beckenbauer of the sorcery guild had stolen the panties she was wearing with his summoning magic in the past.

"So Mr. Beckenbauer's sexual harrassment was the reason for you quitting the job after all?"

"I won't say that it didn't play a role in it, but... I wanted to capitalize on my business sense as a shopkeeper. Isn't that a wonderful idea!?"

"In other words, a job change to aim higher, huh?"

It's just that Mr. Beckenbauer occasionally causes problems with his speech and conduct. Even though he should be rather smart, he simply can't read the mood, or rather, he goes berserk... Burkhart-san, who had asked about the level of his friend's hopelessness, revealed an expression full of disappointment.

"Our store has the strong point of being able to preserve the freshness of seafood thanks to the magic bag we obtained with the funds we saved up over generations. Delicious southern trout, dolphins, marlin tuna, ocean sunfish, skipjack tuna and many more can be easily caught at the southern tip of the Baumeister Earldom, right? On top of that, large shrimps and shellfish. We transport these to the capital's main shop, and sell them expensively."

The job at the sorcery guild is stable, but I guess she was more interested in having her own store as it also allows her to earn more money by doing business.

"I see. So you took a husband and opened a new store."

"No, I'm still single..."

Because of Doushi saying something unnecessary, Delia's mood took a nosedive. She looks like she's in her early twenties. In this world that's an age where she's going to be told by her surroundings that it's about time for her to get married, and thus it's better to be careful about making comments in that direction.

"You being together with the shopkeeper of the fish store means you're going to put up some kind of processed fish food for sale?"

"Yes, we have run various experiments."

In an attempt to change the awkward atmosphere, I bring up the topic with Akira, and he immediately goes along with it since he can read the mood. He's skilled at business, very good at cooking, and capable of taking others into consideration. I'm sure he'd be great wife material if only he'd been a woman.

"I preserved the fish in miso. Mizuho also has many types of miso when it comes to pickling. I created several prototypes by playing around with various types and combinations."

"Since I believe that he'll procure a lot more fish if the dishes are popular, I've come to sample them."

"How about you, Earl Baumeister-sama? Would you like to taste them as well?"

"I'd sure love to do so."

I have also often created fish pickled in miso alongside meat pickled in miso. I've piled up quite some experience through prototypes and research in my own amateurish way, but I'm sure I can't beat a professional in some aspects.

"Ohh! It'd be great if you could sell me miso for pickling! Light-brown miso would be definitely awesome. I'm sure this shop should also stock dark-brown miso paste."

The miso I make myself is no more than very ordinary miso. So far I haven't been able to obtain light-brown or dark-brown miso. Since Mizuho even has miso resembling Kyoto-style miso, it'd be super tasty if I could pickle fatty fish slices in it.

"Food pickled in miso although this is a dried goods store? Isn't that strange?"

"Eru, don't worry about the small stuff. They might also have something like fish salted and dried overnight, don't you think?"

"I've also experimented on those. We also have salted squid or sea urchin paste."

It'd be a shame to not buy them as souvenirs before going back home.

While talking about all this, Akira started to skillfully grill dried fish and fish slices that have been pickled in miso on an earthen charcoal brazier. Gradually a nice aroma began to fill the air as miso and fish got roasted.

"This really needs some alcohol."

Burkhart-san retrieves a bottle out of his magic bag.

Basically it means he's always carrying around alcohol, despite not drinking it during work.

"This is Mizuho shochu. I'm sure it'll blend well with the food."

"Oooh!! Burkhart-dono, share some with me as well!"

While Burkhart-san prepared the alcohol, the grilling of the various types of fish finished, and after both men wolfed down the grilled food with great relish, he gulped down the shochu.

"Awesome. I'm alive for this."

"Shochu fits perfectly with miso-pickled fish!"

The two middle-aged men started a drinking bout in front of someone else's store without caring about the looks of their surroundings.

Well, maybe it's not possible to become a top-notch magician if you don't possess at least this much boldness.

"Ron-chan, Burkhart-chan, you're already older, so keep the drinking moderate, okay?"

""Okay...""

However, once they get admonished about the amount of drinking, the two immediately become obedient.

"(Vel, they're prime examples of old men at this point, aren't they?)"

Eru, since it's obvious to anyone that they're old men, it's kinda pointless for you to point it out now of all times.

"Let me have some of it as well."

"Me too."

Given that it's ultimately food sampling, Eru and I grab some of it as well.

As expected, it's no use unless you don't adjust the mixture of the miso and the other seasonings while matching it with the quality of the fish meat. It's far more delicious than the miso-pickled fish I make myself.

"It tastes great. If these sell well, you're going to procure lots of fish over at our place as well, aren't you Akira-san?"

"Yes, of course. At first it'll be limited to an amount I can cut and trim though."

"You're pretty good at preparing the fish, Akira-san."

"Well, Mizuho people like fish. I think you're very skilled at it as well, Delia-san."

"It's part of my trade, so that's why."

It seems like there's a bit of an age difference between these two, but they seem awfully close to each other. Maybe they're going to marry in the future.

"Since I want to eat it for breakfast, I'm going to buy it together with one-night dried fish, and go back home."

"Thank you very much for your continued patronage."

"Those two... I'm really sorry..."

While receiving the things I bought from Akira, I apologize for the two old men drinking in front of the store as they devour all kinds of food, not only the new test products. I've been the one who brought them here, so it's not like I'm not at fault at all.

"No, it allowed me to get a nice hint."

"Nice hint?"

"Yes."

* * *

At that time I didn't know what he meant, but several days later I found out.

"Dear, it looks like Fujibayashi Dried Goods has expanded its business."

"They expanded?"

"Yes, it seems like they have launched a bar where you drink while standing."

Lisa, who went out to Baulburg on business by chance, told me about Fujibayashi Dried Goods having opened a bar selling alcoholic beverages and snacks next to their dried goods store.

"They have been growing quite a lot over a short period of time. Is that going to be alright?"

Therese seems to be worried whether the scale of their business might become too big for them to handle, but the concept of a bar where you drink while standing has been a success at the capital, too. In the capital it's been set up after I suggested it, though.

"It's a bar run by Fujibayashi Dried Goods, so they must have different items on their menu."

I predict that there's no need to worry so much when it comes to them coming up with something setting them apart from other bars. Also, Candy-san is over there as well, isn't he?

"I think I'll go and check out the situation over there for a bit."

"I will come with you as well."

As it involves alcohol, I take Therese, Lisa, and Amalie-san with me this time, and the four of us head to Fujibayashi Dried Goods, and just as Lisa said, they've opened a bar in the plot next to the dried goods store.

"Welcome, Earl Baumeister-sama."

"Weeelcooo~ome!"

Akira has entrusted the dried goods store to a young man who came over from Mizuho, and is now selling alcoholic beverages and side dishes at the bar. Candy-san is helping him out as well, but this guy sure moves quickly in whatever he does.

Baulburg, which is currently in a construction rush, houses many laborers, and the bar is flourishing with many customers.

Because the alcohol and side dishes are native products of Mizuho, they are slightly more expensive than the local stuff, but this prevents folk from drinking too much, raises the profit per sold unit, and lowers the number of drunkards with bad behavior.

"I see your business is thriving."

"You're exaggerating."

Akira acts humble, but I think only few people could rival him in business talent. I succeeded in business because I used the knowledge from my previous life. Moreover, I only provided the ideas without running the business myself.

"Then we'd like to go with your recommendation."

"Today's recommendations are mizuna in bonito-flavored soy sauce and broiled hijiki."

We drink some sake with side dishes mostly based on Japanese a la carte food. With a feeling of being a true adult... Well, combined with my age from my previous life, I'm actually pretty old.

A bar with such ambiance agrees with my taste quite a bit.

"Wendelin, I think thou have come to like this kind of establishment as thou experienced various things in your life."

"Isn't it the same for you as well, Therese?"

In reality Therese was just past 20 in age, but her being the former Duchess Philip is not for show either, I'd say. Just like Lisa and Amalie-san, Therese has the aura of a mature lady.

"They sure are selling fine Mizuho sake."

"Dishes based on vegetables and seaweed seem to be fairly healthy."

Therese drinks her Mizuho sake while looking happy. Amalie-san eats the side dishes I ordered after applying soy sauce on them.

Given that women are interested in beauty and diets, the Mizuho cuisine that uses lots of vegetables and seaweed must be very appealing to them.

"Tasty..."

Lisa is drinking the shochu straight. Just like back when she had a drinking contest against Doushi, she shows not the slightest hint of getting drunk.

"But, are these things related to a dried goods store?"

"They are. Dried hijiki and katsuobushi are goods from the dried store."

In my previous world it was common practice for fish mongers to open fish restaurants and butchers to run steakhouses. It's not weird for a dried goods store to run a bar while selling side dishes made out of dried goods... has Akira actually been reincarnated from another world as well?

No, there's no way that's true, I guess.

"We also offer to prepare things like the broiled hijiki for take-out."

It's possible to take most of the bar's menu items back home, thus some customers go back home after just buying side dishes without drinking anything.

"Looking at your menu... I have to admit that you're really doing your best."

"Since the variety has increased, around half of it is made by me."

So Candy-san has already memorized this many Mizuho dishes, huh...? Only 『True Love』 is something that doesn't want to come true for him, I suppose.

"We're procuring fresh fish from Delia-san."

There's a lot of Mizuho cooking, or rather cooking resembling Kyoto-styled home cooking. For the sake of keeping the prices low, Akira skillfully prepares the ingredients which he procures from his hometown in addition to Delia's fish store.

It'd be really great to have him around as an exclusive cook...

"There's just too much food I'd love to take back home..."

The four of us eat some of the side dishes and foodstuff, and drink one cup of sake, except for Lisa. Because Elise and the others are preparing dinner back at the mansion, it'd be best to not eat any more.

I thought I'd take the dishes back home in that case, but I'm lost as to which I should choose. As Earl Baumeister it'd be fine to buy up all of it, but I wouldn't be able to eat all of that. Of course they wouldn't spoil if I put them into my magic bag, but since I have the sentiment of eating this kind of food right after it's made, I think I better buy the food little-by-little over time.

"Isn't it fine to buy a different dish every day? Indulging too much isn't good either." (Amalie)

"You're right."

Most of the side dishes sold here can be used as accompaniment, so I think it'd be best to quietly place them at the edge of the table so that I can eat them during breakfast.

"Wendelin, thou are truly and utterly Amalie's younger brother-in-law, aren't thou? You listen closely to what she tells thou."

"Therese, it's wrong to treat me, Earl Baumeister, like a child. I do understand that there's no point in buying a huge amount of food all at once."

"Thou act just like a child whenever it concerns matters thou like. Amalie thought thou might consider buying everything."

"I can't imagine that to be true. Right, Amalie-san?"

"Sorry... but in reality I warned you since I believed that to be the case..."

"..."

Recently Therese and Amalie-san often treat me like a child. Yet I still think that I have some more dignity after having become a father.

"Lisa, thou do things at thine own pace, don't thou?"

"This sake is delicious."

"The only one who would down a full bottle of such a strong sake without diluting it are people at thine level, Lisa. It has an alcohol content at the level of the aquavit produced in the Philip Dukedom..."

There's that as well, but if I remember correctly Lisa previously said that she was bad with alcohol, despite being able to drink it...

"This sake is delicious."

"It's a rice shochu that's famous even in Mizuho. It enjoys a high reputation for it's refreshing taste."

Lisa nods at Akira's explanation, apparently able to agree with it. As someone not liking alcohol albeit drinking lots of it, it means she's discovered the first alcoholic beverage she actually likes.

"Please give me one bottle for take-out."

"Thank you for your purchase."

"You're also selling alcohol?"

"Indeed, but only Mizuho-made alcohol. It's quite popular."

A dried goods store, a tsukudani store, a bar, an alcohol-selling shop, and a side dish shop; Akira continues to steadily expand his business over a short period of time, evoking a feeling of respect in me.

* * *

"This time he's opened a tea house offering Mizuho tea and sweets, he said."

"He expanded his business again...? Is he going to be okay in regards to personnel?"

"According to what I've heard from Haruka-san's brother-in-law, they're going to send over help since the sales are going so well. They're going to hire shop assistants locally, though. It sounds like the jobs are highly contested."

"Really?"

"They're not really getting paid more than the shop assistants of normal cafes or restaurants, but as the uniforms are very unique, it's quite popular to work there."

It looks like Akira has expanded the scale of the stores he runs once again. The billboard still says 『Fujibayashi Dried Goods』, but at this point it's already left the category of being a simple dried goods store.

It's more like it's become a small general store specialized on Mizuho products. Nowadays even rich people have started to visit the stores from afar by expressly flying all the way here with magic airships.

"Isn't Takeomi-san against it?"

"He said he didn't plan to meddle in Akira's business to begin with. I mean, isn't that fine, seeing how that guy is going to mess it up anyway if he opens his mouth?"

Come to think of it, he hasn't visited us ever since his initial greetings...

Akira is his relative, and maybe he's the kind of guy who would say, 『I've been entrusted with everything, so I'll take responsibility for everything!』.

"So you're saying the Mizuho-styled uniforms are popular, huh...?"

"Most of the shop assistants are unmarried girls. They probably want to garner some attention with the unusual outfits."

In other words, one of the reasons for unmarried women to work as shop assistants at a store lies in getting to know the customers. Since you won't become a regular customer at Akira's stores if you don't have a reasonable income, it's popular among women who want to look for slightly richer guys.

As the stores are popular with a strong competition over the available jobs, almost all of the shop assistants in Akira's stores are cute.

"The goods at Fujibayashi Dried Goods are somewhat expensive, right?"

"Well, they've got a lot of imported goods, so yeah."

"The uniforms are quite unique as well, that's the reason why working there is highly popular among such women."

Another reason for the popularity of Akira's stores seems to be the novelty of the uniforms when compared to the western and maid clothes of other stores.

But he's right. I feel like the number of pretty, female staff has been on the rise over the time of me dropping by to buy side dishes...

"There's a lot of pretty girls over there, but for some reason Akira remains the most popular."

"That really doesn't shed a great light on the customers, does it?"

It's become common knowledge in Baulburg that Akira is a guy, and yet many men still frequent his stores with the goal of meeting him. They usually go back home after buying some goods and get their fill of light chatter with Akira.

Akira, the soothing male girl, huh...?

"Speaking of Akira, you're enjoying your visits quite a bit yourself as well, aren't you Vel?"

"I'm merely going there for the goods, okay?"

Because the amount I can eat per day is limited, I end up wavering as to what I should buy. That's why it's not wrong to listen to Akira's recommendations as a guideline.

"What are you going to do if nonsense rumors about me being infatuated with Akira start to crop up!?"

"The church would certainly kick up a fuss, definitely."

As we were having such a conversation, my MHCD suddenly started to ring. When I picked up the call in a hurry, Cardinal Hohenheim was on the other end of the line.

"Cardinal Hohenheim, do you have any urgent business with me?"

The election has finished without a hitch, so I expected to be pardoned from public duties for a while. Does he possibly want to meet Friedrich again?

『Son-in-law, according to rumors, you've fallen in love with a man or something like that?』

"Pardon?"

『Women are no problem, but men are out of the question. Don't forget, you're a honorary priest.』

I've fallen in love with a man? Just because I've been frequenting Akira's store?

Until a little while, a rumor about me being fixated on turning Akira into a lover because he was being misunderstood as a man made its rounds, and now I'm suspected of being gay...?

Unlike in my previous life, developed information transmission methods are very scarce, so... though I guess even in my previous life it often happened that fishy gossip and rumors were circulating... the gossiping of people is truly scary.

"Umm, please listen..."

After thoroughly explaining the circumstances to Cardinal Hohenheim, I managed to clear up the misunderstanding.

『Son-in-law, you're someone drawing public attention in many ways. Could you drop the frequency of your visits to that store?』

"That's impossible."

I mean I could miss out on a sudden event if I don't go there frequently.

『But, think about it for a moment.』

Cardinal Hohenheim and I argued for a long time about the frequency of my visits to Fujibayashi Dried Goods. It was the very definition of a waste of time and MHCD mana.

"Elise doesn't suspect me in the slightest."

『If Elise doesn't say anything about it, I suppose I don't have any reason to go on about this any longer... Still, why are you so adamant about going there?』

"Because they have a great number of delicious foodstuffs."

『That's so typical of you... 』

As it'd be crazy to tell him that it simply reminds me of my previous life, I explained to Cardinal Hohenheim that I simply like the goods sold at Akira's store.

* * *

"It's cooked sea bream, isn't it? Today's sea bream is pretty expensive as it has been caught around the coastal waters of the Philip Dukedom, but it's great since the breams have put on lots of fat for the winter."

Fujibayashi Dried Goods continues its mysterious expansion every day. At this point, the connection to dried goods has become mostly obsolete, but Akira hasn't changed the name.

Given that there's no way for Takeomi-san, the owner, to care about such minor details, I have no doubt that it'll stay like this for a good time to come.

Akira has increased the menu of the side dish store and the number of dishes using dried goods. Using the fish he procures from Delia's fish store, he's selling grilled fish, cooked fish, fried fish, and deep-fried fish. He's also been marketing all kinds of paste products, and many people are buying these as well.

Given that Akira has his limits as one man, the number of Mizuho cooks has drastically grown without me even being aware of it.

Elise and I happily went together to buy 『Cooked Sea Bream』 while bringing a pot with us.

As Akira has finished setting up a store with great side dishes, the frequency of us going shopping there has increased, but it sure is inconvenient that no vinyl or plastic containers exists in this world. We've been buying stuff over there while bringing empty pots or plates, but in the eyes of the people of Earth, this might actually be highly regarded as eco-friendly.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, I've actually decided to marry."

"Eh!? Seriously!?"

Even though Akira should be quite busy around this time with his rapidly expanding business, he also found time to get to know a woman? Maybe he had a fiancée in Mizuho?

"That's a fairly sudden piece of news, isn't it?"

"I think so as well, but timing matters with such things."

"You certainly could say that. May God bless you and your spouse's future."

"Thank you very much, Elise-sama."

"So, who's your partner?"

Akira's future wife... must be a very beautiful woman, or maybe quite manly. Because Akira himself is rather womanly, this might work out unexpectedly well in regards to balancing, though.

In that case, maybe someone like Candy-san? Bah, even if Candy-san might be a girl at heart, his body is definitely that of a guy...

No way... don't tell me that's the case here, or is it?

"Delia-san is going to become my wife."

"How unexpected... or rather, I guess not."

They've been meeting every day because of their fish-related business, and since their homes, in other words their stores, are close-by, you could call it inevitable in a certain sense, I suppose.

"I thought that it'd be one of the girls working at your stores."

"So you had no relationship with any of them, huh?"

In the eyes of the girls working at Fujibayashi Dried Goods, Akira should be a good match because of his decent earnings, but if you consider his appearance, which wins out in cuteness over them, and his professional level of cooking skill, it might actually have caused them to flinch away.

In that regard Delia might have had an advantage since she could keep her distance, even if they've been meeting every day.

"I see. Congratulations. I'll send you a celebratory gift later."

"Thank you very much for your kind consideration."

It'd also be fine for me to attend the wedding ceremony, but I'm still the feudal lord around here. I expect that Roderich would tell me off as I'd be taken too lightly if I got too close to my fief's population. I sure would love to attend since it looks like they'd put up delicious food at the wedding...

Also, I feel like it'd be alright for me to attend since Akira is Takeomi-san's relative.

I think I'll try asking Roderich about it once I get back to the mansion.

"It does sound like it'll be difficult, seeing how both of you are shopkeepers."

"On that point Delia-san's father has shown some consideration by sending over help from the capital. Then again, he firmly requested two children at the very least in exchange."

Because Akira is a shopkeeper hired by Takeomi-san, even while being his relative, him being adopted into Delia's fishmonger family isn't actually all that strange. Given that his knife skills as a cook are masterly, I'm sure he'd do just fine as a fishmonger as well.

However, if that were to happen, the famous shopkeeper of Fujibayashi Dried Goods, a cash cow for Takeomi-san, would be gone. As Akira is superb in what he does, I think he could go independent at any moment, but ever since his childhood, he has had a good relationship with Takeomi-san as his student in katana arts.

So he won't do something like going independent right after marrying, and instead start from turning Fujibayashi Dried Goods into a franchise first. Afterwards, the Fujibayashi Dried Goods franchise is going to flourish without issues, and Akira can go independent without any quarrels because Takeomi-san, who's been selling Mizuho-made goods wholesale to him, will be able to keep earning a stable profit without any interruptions.

Because he'd be independent, his new store would require successors, but since Delia's fish store would likewise need a successor, he's been told that the two need to at least have two children. Given that it'd be a problem if the two couldn't make any children because of their working non-stop, Delia's father agreed to send over experienced shop assistants and leave the fish store to them as support for the newlyweds.

"Isn't it great that both stores are going to remain? Still, a wife that is older than her husband, huh?"

"Huh? I'm older than her."

""Eehhh!?""

Delia looks like she's something around 22 or 23 in age. On the other hand, Akira should be around the same age as us, no matter how much older he might seem.

So it's been a huge surprise that he's older than Delia, albeit me having thought that he's probably younger. Elise seems to have thought the same, and thus she ended up crying out in surprise together with me.

"Okay, so how old are you then, Akira?"

"I'll turn 23 soon. Delia-san is 21 years old."

Neither Elise nor I could hide that we were a lot more surprised about Akira being 23 years old than about the news of his upcoming marriage.

* * *

"Akira's age, you ask? Indeed, there's no mistake in that. Akira often played with my brother during their childhood."

When I asked Haruka about Akira's age during dinner, she confirmed him being close to 23 years old. I didn't think that he'd have lied to me about this, but since Akira wanted to become a dignified man, it was actually quite possible that he'd inflate his own age somewhat. Thus I checked back with her, just in case.

"It looks like the day for Akira to become a dignified man is still a distant dream of the future."

Just as Eru says, his beautiful girl appearance clearly stands in the way of achieving that goal. In addition, it's a plain fact that he's got a child face.

Another fact is that no one other than himself desires for him to become manly or something like that. The male customers are men looking for soothing, and Akira fills that role.

"Haruka and I have been invited to the wedding ceremony and reception."

"Bah, I want to go as well..."

"I think that's going to be difficult."

Even if the shopkeepers of my favorite stores might be marrying, it'll cause various issues if I attend as Earl Baumeister. For my position as noble to tie me down on such an aspect is something I hadn't expected...

"I've just come up with it on the spot, but what if we say the mysterious adventurer Vel, who lives in the Baumeister Earldom, was invited to the wedding by his close friend who runs a store?"

It'd be the same stunt as in a historic drama I saw on TV in my previous life. It was about a playboy being a magistrate, and the real shogun actually being the third son of a poor shogunal vassal.

If I used the same method, I think it'd be easy to appear at the wedding.

"Nah, you'll be found out in no time, Vel."

"Indeed, I think only very few residents do not know your face, Earl Baumeister-sama."

The 『plan of disguising myself』 was shot down by Eru and Haruka before I could even put it into practice.

"Why do you want to attend the ceremony so much anyway?"

"Of course for the sake of celebrating their wedding from the bottom of my heart."

Delia, who's been selling me fresh and delicious fish, and Akira who's selling me various self-made foods based on dried goods. If these two become a married couple, I'll likely become able to eat even more delicious food.

I think it's only natural for me to celebrate it.

"Aren't you planning something else as well?"

That damn Eru, I guess he noticed my other objective...

He's seen through my expectation that they'll definitely serve very tasty food at the reception since it's those two we're talking about here

"Are you aiming for the food that's going to be served at the reception?"

"Mizuho cooking and fish dishes made out of great fish are something to look forward to, and yet..."

Usually the food served at wedding receptions tends to be questionable, but if it's a wedding reception managed by these two, they should serve a great, elaborate meal since it'll also work as advertisement for them. Not being able to eat that is a very great loss, isn't it!?

"If it's celebratory gifts, I'll even bring as much as the amount of ten others!"

I'm Earl Baumeister, so I'll make sure to give them enough celebratory gifts to not bring any shame to my title.

"No, that's not the issue here... Elise, please explain it to your foolish husband."

"Dear, if you attend their wedding, it will become unclear who is playing the leading role during the ceremony, and everyone will become tense. This will also apply to the bride and the bridegroom."

"I'll be the mysterious adventurer Vel!"

I won't be Earl Baumeister, but an adventurer who can use a tiny bit of magic, yep.

"We have been telling you, that is unreasonable."

Even Elise denies my idea.

Shit! Isn't there some smarter way to go about it?

"Elise, you're going to attend as well, as the wife of the mysterious adventurer Vel."

If we go as a married couple, it should become a superb disguise, I'm sure.

"It will stand out even more though... After all, I am quite well-known among the populace as well..."

I have many wives, but Elise is the most famous one among them. I guess it'd be hard to sell her off as the wife of Mysterious Adventurer Vel...

"Umm... how about I ask Akira to set aside some of the food for you? I believe he is going to invite a lot of people since it will be good publicity for him, so he should likewise prepare a big amount of food."

As I'm worrying over being unable to come up with a good plan, Haruka suggests that she'll get Akira to set aside our share of the feast in advance.

I see. I've completely overlooked that option, haven't I?

"That's a nice idea! Eru, for you to not come up with at least that much..."

Haruka's timely assist as his wife was superb, but Eru himself is a lost case, totally. Even though he should have been able to think of that much himself...

"Somehow you're pissing me off. Vel, you didn't come up with that method either, did you? You were only interested in the food at the reception."

"Isn't that just fine? I mean, a wedding reception with good food will remain in everyone's memory as a great event."

They'll celebrate the bride and bridegroom's start of a new life while enjoying wonderful food. If the food were to be disgusting, it'd taint their memories of the wedding.

"You've taken hair-splitting to a new height... Well, whatever. We'll take care of your celebratory gifts, and have them bring the food to the mansion."

"In that case, all is fine."

I can't attend the wedding, but as long as I can enjoy the same food, it'd be bad manners to whine around like a child any longer. I think I should stick to dealing with this like an adult.

"By the way, could I have you organize some slices of the wedding cake for us as well?"

It was normal in the Helmut Kingdom to prepare wedding cakes for wedding receptions. The ritual of cutting the cake didn't exist, but it was common sense to prepare a number that would be distributed to all attendees. That means it'd be unnatural for us to not get any of the cake.

"Are you a child!? You don't need to worry since Haruka will take care of it."

* * *

Eru and Haruka dressed up and left for the church to participate in the wedding ceremony and the following reception. The ceremony would be held in a church located in Baulburg.

Akira is no believer of the local religion, but Mizuho people pride themselves to have a disposition that's very similar to Japanese people in regards to religion. In other words, it seems like they are quite adaptable.

"I'm really looking forward to the food."

"Vel, shouldn't you first celebrate the marriage between Akira and Delia on this occasion?"

"Vel, it's not going to be a dinner party, just so you know..."

Ina and Luise had their underwear stolen through the summoning magic just like Delia. That means they have a certain feeling of companionship with her.

"Of course I'm going to properly celebrate their start into a new life."

I'll celebrate it, but won't great food allow me to celebrate it even more?

As I'm thinking about that, a big amount of dishes and cakes are delivered to the mansion from Fujibayashi Dried Goods.

"It's just as I've expected!"

In addition to all kinds of extravagant Mizuho food, the Helmut Kingdom's food had also been prepared with high-quality ingredients. All of it was very delicious. I think it's going to become a great advertisement towards the people attending the reception.

The cake used plenty of chocolate and Demon Forest-native fruits, making it extremely popular among all of us.

"Wendelin, if thou had appeared at the reception, thou might have been unable to enjoy the food like this because thou would have needed to entertain all kinds of people."

"Then it's a good thing to have handled it like this."

We enjoyed ourselves, getting a fill of luxurious dishes and desserts during a break of nursing the babies.

* * *

"Welcome!"

"Huh? You're already working again?"

"Yes, we've agreed to go on our honeymoon after things have calmed down a bit."

After getting married without a hitch, Akira and Delia had taken three days off before returning to work. Delia has left the fish store to a veteran clerk, who's arrived from the main store in the capital, and is now helping out with the side dish store.

Given that she's been cutting and trimming fish for a long time, she was immediately able to actively help out at the store. Nowadays she's happily cooking dishes together with Akira. As both look like women, they kinda don't give off the flair of a married couple, though.

"Delia is quite good at handling fish, isn't she?"

"My thoughts."

Well, she prepared the seafood, which got summoned from the north at the Sorcery Guild, very skillfully.

That means she indeed had more than enough skill to take care of the branch office by herself.

"Since I expect that things will get busy again, it's great to have Delia here with me."

"Ah, Candy-san has already gone back to the capital, hasn't he?"

He came here to train in order to sell Mizuho-native ingredients at the capital and start a store that would sell dishes made with those ingredients. Because he has finished his planned training schedule and seeing how he also has his clothes store to worry about, he went back to the capital right after the two's wedding ceremony.

"I have asked Delia to help out here exactly because it'd become quite difficult to handle things without Candy-san."

"Makes sense, seeing how he was able to help out right away even though he came here to train."

Certainly, Candy-san would put any professional to shame with his cooking skills. After all he's good enough to get Doushi's praise who's quite a picky eater despite his appearance.

"It's not like that's the only reason, but I think I'll launch a new store so as to not lose to Candy-san."

"Now listen, don't you think you're spreading your business way too much over a short period of time?"

I believe Akira's abilities to be amazing, but I wonder whether he isn't hurrying a bit too much here.

"The expansion of the scale will be finished with this. Besides, the new store won't take much time and effort anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, you see, it's like that..."

What Akira has planned is to run a butcher's shop, a fish dealer, a fruits and vegetables store, a dried goods store, a side dish store, an eatery, a tavern, and in addition, even a store selling many things, ranging from groceries to general living goods.

He's pursuing to increase the convenience by gathering various stores in one place... Huh? This management system...

"(Isn't that the first supermarket!?)"

"It'll be difficult to do the same in the capital, though."

Just as Delia says, I think it'd be a hard challenge to run a store system similar to a supermarket in the capital. After all, each store belongs to a guild, and those guilds fervently protect their privileges.

Because Baulburg lies in the territory of an upstart noble, the various guilds haven't extended their reach towards it yet, making this system possible here.

"I see, that's why you're hurrying, huh?"

"Well, everything will be fine as long as I finish building it up first."

Because of that, a supermarket-like store was created in the Baumeister Earldom by Akira. Since it gathered everything necessary in one place, thus erasing the need to go shopping at other stores, it became a huge success, and as it drew many customers over, the stores selling meat, fruits, and vegetables, which entered the compound as tenants, were popular as well.

Fujibayashi Dried Goods also earned rent as the landowner, and became the foundation stone of the future general grocery store 『Fujibayashi』, which owned stores all over the continent.

* * *

"Somehow I don't know, but it sure looks like they're raking in great profits. I guess all is fine since they aren't in the red."

However, Takeomi-san, the owner of Fujibayashi Dried Goods, had absolutely nothing to do with the rapid expansion. As he left everything to other people, Eru even said that he considered him to be a big-shot in a certain sense.

Chapter 07: Mankind Is Noodles (First Part)

"Okay, here you go. Can you still go on?"

"I'm fine."

"Then we will continue with the second helping."

With the pretext of it being the season for the first soba made out of freshly harvested buckwheat, Fujibayashi Dried Goods invited cooks over from Mizuho and opened a temporary soba store.

Akira's stores usually have free spaces for events. I've heard from him that he plans to call over a sushi cook and run some mochi pounding event in due time. I must attend these at all costs.

Today was the regular holiday for his stores, but Akira came to our mansion with his soba makers to treat us to some soba noodles. Given that I'm the local lord and one of his most regular customers, he occasionally humors my unreasonable requests.

Being a noble has its advantages only when it comes to such matters.

Because I helped him out with the formalities when he expanded the scale of his store, I think it also serves as his show of gratitude.

The cooks Akira brought with him start making heaps of soba noodles, and after cooking them, they finish up by putting them in water. They let us freely choose whether the soba noodles should be hot or chilled, and they even made some tempura for us. Lining up the dishes that are normally sold at Akira's stores on top of that, we can pick side dishes as we like while eating the soba.

It's not to the extent of my previous world, but for this world it's a somewhat luxurious meal course.

"You sure wolf them down as usual, Doushi."

"I really wonder, just where is all the stuff you're stuffing into you going?"

Burkhart-san and Doushi have been invited for today as well, and Doushi has already had more than 30 bowls of soba.

He seems to prefer chilled soba, but he ends up downing the bowls at a rate of one per two minutes. Because of that, the soba makers are being kept very busy, End Eru as well as Burkhart-san roll their eyes at Doushi's gluttony.

"Well, he still loses out to Wilma, though..."

Yep, we've got Wilma on our side.

Before she gave birth, her hunger had dropped a tiny bit... that in itself is already plenty amazing... but now she's completely back to being a black hole. With her asking for second helpings in quick succession, it gives the cooks even more work to do.

"Wilma, do you like them?"

"Delicious."

"As expected, soba is great, isn't it?"

"Wilma-sama, you liked soba to such an extent?"

"I like this way of eating."

"Me too."

Buckwheat is being grown in the continent's center, but only the Mizuho Dukedom prepares it in a Japanese-styled way of cooking. Elsewhere it's used for porridge, or turned into pasta and crepes. Given that buckwheat can be even grown on barren land, it's used as a replacement for wheat and rice. Even in Japan, most of the buckwheat fields are located in regions with conditions that make rice cultivation difficult.

"Doushi, you stopped competing with Wilma, haven't you?"

"Well, I do not see any chance in winning."

Doushi eats very much as well, but ultimately it's within common sense... no, it's not. Wilma has her Hero Syndrome, so no matter how much effort Doushi puts into this, it'll be impossible for him to win against Wilma when it comes to eating.

"Now is the only time I can call over the soba craftsmen, but we will stock dried noodles and dashi-based broth at our stores, so please feel free to visit us anytime if you wish to enjoy some soba noodles." Akira casually advertises around the time when all of us had their fill of soba noodles.

In the past I've bought these things in Mizuho, but my stock on them has been running low for a while now. As I've been pondering whether I should go buy them on-site again, he's bringing it up at the perfect time. Dried noodles are inferior to freshly-made ones, but they're easy to prepare and work perfectly as a reserve.

"Since you can make soba noodles everywhere, I might be able to set up a store selling Mizuho-styled soba sooner or later."

"I guess that would be an option, too."

If you practice while focusing only on soba making, you can become reasonably skilled within an unexpectedly short period of time.

As udon is fairly delicious as well, I'll get Akira to make some udon for me next time.

"Lately I went to a restaurant with Delia during a holiday. Over there we ran into a skilled artisan who was making fresh pasta by hand."

A date as a married couple on their day off, huh? Well, they might look more like two women out shopping than a married couple, but I'm happy to hear that they're getting along well.

"You mean Loreck's restaurant, don't you? The fresh pasta over there is great."

The noodles eaten the most in the Helmut Kingdom are pasta. Areas with infertile land also have pasta made out of assorted grains or buckwheat. As long as one has the technique to make delicious pasta, they'll be able to make decent soba as well after a little bit of training.

"We've befriended him, and decided together that I'd teach him how to make soba next time."

"You okay with that?"

Is he really alright with teaching others how to make soba so easily?

The monopoly on techniques is a source of riches in this world as well. So it's often regarded as a bad idea to teach others for free.

"Soba can also be made in the Helmut Kingdom, but the kombu and katsuobushi, which are needed for the broth, are monopolized by Mizuho."

I guess him spreading the Mizuho-styled soba will rake in profits for his Fujibayashi Dried Goods as he's going to sell soy sauce, katsuobushi, and kombu as ingredients for the broth. In other words, he's going to earn money while receiving a debt of gratitude at the same time.

At this point it's pretty clear, Akira is really good at business.

"When I suggested pasta with new flavors, he was immediately on board."

That means Mizuho-styled pasta is going to appear on the menu of Loreck's restaurant from now on as well. I'm looking forward to it.

It's probably Akira's plot to make good money by selling the ingredients, if the pasta over at Loreck's restaurant becomes popular. I guess you could describe it as a Win-Win relationship.

As expected, Akira's business sense is much better than mine.

"If it's noodles, you can also sell them at street stalls or food carts. It will become a great business if you also sell tempura and onigiri at the same time."

It's only obvious that Akira has already considered things this far.

"If the demand for noodles rises, I can lower the prices by producing them locally without importing things from Mizuho. It's also possible to separate the Mizuho-native products as high-class products. By the way, I have a request, Earl Baumeister-sama..."

"I have no problem with listening to it at least."

Akira is providing me with many delicious foodstuff, after all. A little request... it's definitely not because Akira is cute or anything like that.

"Currently the food culture is rapidly evolving in the capital, right?"

"So it seems."

I've heard similar from Arterio-san who's running a business with me, but coupled with the popularization of the Mizuho culture and foodstuff on top of a huge amount of new dishes and spices such as soy sauce, miso, etc, which I have been spreading by speaking so highly of them, a fierce competition seems to have broken out among the restaurants in the capital. The restaurants run by Arterio-san are still doing fine, but you never know what might happen in life.

My company's president told us in my previous life, 『Times of prosperity are always gates of ruin』, but he actually used that as a reason to not really raise our pay, too, so...

"I'd like to research the restaurants in the capital, too."

"Oh, market research, you mean?"

Running a restaurant for a long time is hard work. In my previous life it was common for more than 70% of the restaurants to shut down within five years after opening. Even eateries that got sponsored as being overrun with customers on TV went bankrupt in no time, so I guess it's a fairly tough business.

"I'd like you to take me there with your magic, Earl Baumeister-sama."

"Sure. I wanted to try going to the capital's restaurants myself anyway."

"Thank you very much."

Hearing my approval, Akira thanks me with a smile blooming all over his face. As usual, his loveliness makes my heart throb a bit. In the end I can't see him as anything but a beautiful girl.

"It looks like you favor Akira quite a bit, Vel."

"That way of phrasing it only invites misunderstandings..."

"Are those really misunderstandings though?"

"Isn't that obvious!?"

Luise looks meaningfully at me as if having seen through my feelings, but I deny her allegations with all I've got.

But, the lacking confidence that she might actually be right... obviously doesn't exist!

Thus it was decided that we'd visit the capital together with Akira.

* * *

"Let's get going then."

"Okay."

We set the date for heading out to inspect the restaurants in the capital to be several days later. Officially we called the whole endeavor: 『Inspection for the Sake of Improving the Restaurant Industry in the Baumeister Earldom』.

Since I had become an earl, Roderich wouldn't nod his head when it came to me simply going around various restaurants.

Government officials also go on vacation abroad with taxpayer money in the name of inspections, don't they? So it should be alright to add some entertainment during such inspections as long as you provide a legit reason for things.

I was busy with the development, but I still finished a tough schedule for this inspection trip. Akira has brought Delia with him since they have just recently married and yet not gone on a honeymoon.

Given that the inspection is scheduled to last three days, they're apparently planning to visit Delia's family in the capital.

"Dear, it has been a while so you are looking forward to it, aren't you?"

"You're right."

As it looks like most of it will be playing around, even though we're calling it an inspection, I worried a bit about whom I should take with me, but Elise was the very first on my list. As my first wife, Elise has had it a lot tougher than my other wives.

"I really wanted to go together with Haruka too... it's impossible though."

The second is Eru as my guard.

"I'll take care of the food sampling."

The third was fairly decided through drawing lots, and Wilma's luck at drawing lots is the best at such times.

"Choosing the clothes is troublesome, but I warmly welcome being able to eat."

The fourth is Katia who's unexpectedly lucky at drawing lots, and thus obtained the right to accompany us.

"Me too. My cooking repertoire isn't overly big, so I might not be of much help."

"When we partied up at the prep school, I was the one with the best luck among us, but well... at least I barely made it in."

The last ones who made the roaster are Amalie-san and Luise. This was the entire lineup for the trip.

"I will further the development while you are not here, my dear husband."

"Lisa, thou sure sound very motivated there. Well, it can't be helped. I'll help out with the work as well while following Lisa's instructions. Next time, take Lisa and me out."

"Count on it, I'll definitely make up for it."

Of those staying back home, Ina, Katharina, and Haruka will take care of the babies, whereas Lisa and Therese will use their magic to do construction work during my absence. That's because Agnes and the other two, who have become quite at construction work magic as they've been using it as means to train their magic, are going to come with us to the capital as well.

"Sensei, thank you very much."

"I want to see how bro is doing these days."

"I'm so excited about going on a trip with sensei."

Because the three have always been doing their best, I must give them a little holiday every once in a while. After all, it's also their merit that the development of the Baumeister Earldom is proceeding so smoothly.

"Betty, are you worried about your brother?"

"Bro has the tendency to become a bum if I take my eyes off him for a little while. Sometimes I must whip him back into shape."

She might be saying this or that about him, but Betty is a gentle girl who thinks about her brother. She's been concerned about making sure that her brother doesn't go bankrupt.

"He's got a proper wife, and the repayment of his debts is advancing well, too. I think he probably should be fine."

"It'd be nice if you're right..."

"I guess we're going to make sure of it then..."

"I count on you, sensei."

Thus our little group headed over to the capital with 『Teleport』.

* * *

"You are right on time!"

"Uff, you startled me! Isn't it great if we're on time?"

Having transferred to the capital with Teleport, we were scheduled to meet up with Doushi before starting the inspection tour. That's because he loves commoner food despite being a noble, and regularly eats out.

Given that he's well-informed about the capital's restaurant (only the cheap ones though), we asked him to accompany us.

"I want to eat something soon! I have eaten nothing but a single loaf of bread since today morning!"

"I feel like that's plenty, though..." Eru mumbles under his breath.

All of us except for Doushi and Wilma nod our heads at that.

"Certainly, if it's only that much, I'd stagger around in no time."

"Right?"

Of course Wilma is an exception. She eats three loafs of bread every morning after all.

"Since I've heard that we'd try food at various restaurants today, I've widened my stomach by increasing today's share of bread to five loaves. Conversely, if I don't eat breakfast, my stomach movements dull, ultimately resulting in a decrease of the amount I can eat. If that happens, I become hungry and start staggering."

"Ohhh! I see! So that is how you increase the amount you can eat, huh?"

The conversation between Wilma and Doushi is weird in various ways. Or rather, Wilma is like a big eating master from my previous life.

"Uncle-sama, are you going to introduce us to some restaurants?"

"Half of it is out of fun, but I thought that I would show you some examples how the eating habits of the commoners in the capital and its surrounding areas has actually changed thanks to Earl Baumeister! Follow me!"

Basically Doushi belongs to the kind of people who are hyping cheap but delicious food. Since he has been adventuring in his youth, he likes food like it's served in eateries and bars in the outskirts. Given that he's now the family head of a Viscount household and the Royal Head Wizard, he usually eats noble-like food... or not, he doesn't really look like he does, but he's careful in his own way.

"Earl Baumeister, hurry up!"

"Actually, one more person is going to accompany us."

I inform Doushi, telling him that we'll depart after that person arrives.

"Is he late? That person sure cannot read the mood!"

"——Really? It's not yet the appointed time though, Ron-chan."

"As a person it's proper to show up five minutes early at the very lea... Wha... Candy-dono?"

"Ron-chan, long time no see~ Oh my, so you remember what I've taught you?"

"Of course I do... Earl Baumeister?"

Doushi, I'd like you to spare me the "Why Candy-san?" look. Originally it hadn't been planned for him to join us, but Akira had become his friend, and Candy-san himself asked to come with us as reference for his future business development.

"Candy-san, how are you doing?"

"Oh my, Elise-chan, you're so beautiful today as well."

"Elise... you know Candy-dono?"

"Uncle-sama, I had Candy-san coordinate these clothes for me. Candy-san is very skilled at cooking. We have both become friends."

"You do not say~!"

Since Candy-san is kind to women, he befriended all my wives during his short stay in Baulburg. Even among our maids, some are on fairly good terms with him.

Contrary to his appearance, Candy-san excels at communication skills.

"Uncle-sama, is it that surprising?"

"...No, I am not particularly surprised or anything like that..."

I think Doushi is worried that stories from his youth could reach Elise's ears through Candy-san. After all, it'd damage his dignity as her uncle.

Douchi does have impressiveness, but whether he has dignity at all, stands on another page altogether.

"Time is precious, so let's go~"

"Yes... let us..." Doushi obediently follows Candy-san's suggestion.

It looks like he can't handle Candy-san at all.

* * *

"This is a fairly dangerous district, isn't it?"

Doushi led us into an area of the city that's inhabited by the poor, or in other words, the slums. Since we stood out like a sore thumb with all of us being nobility, people surrounded us at a distance, staring at us, causing Eru to alertly scan the vicinity. However, just for caution's sake.

"You're not wrong about that. But then again, no one would try to extort money or kidnap Doushi-sama."

"Ultimately, I'm simply making sure."

Luise and Katia, both excellent adventurers, casually positioned themselves as Elise, Amalie-san, and Delia's guards. But in the end, it's just a precautionary step.

I don't think we need to worry about Delia since Akira is here. Given that he's strong enough to get acknowledged by Takeomi-san, I'm pretty sure that anyone messing with him would terribly regret it.

"Those missies are super cute."

"Yeah, I'd have called out to them if not for their company..."

"No kidding, they're totally different from my ugly wife."

The slum inhabitants, who are looking at us from a distance, are whispering amongst each other while evaluating the pretty women on our side.

The one garnering the most popularity is Akira, as expected. Because he's a Mizuho person and very cute, he stands out a lot in the Kingdom, no matter what he does.

"(Somehow I feel conflicted about it. I'm sure I'm cuter than him.)"

"(That's not a line a mother should say, is it...?)

"(Humph!)"

"(Eegh!?)"

Eru squeals oddly after receiving an elbow strike from Luise after saying something unnecessary.

"(Even though I'm Akira-san's wife...)"

"(A wife with a pretty and cute husband, huh...?)"

"(Luise-sama, hearing that assessment doesn't make me happy at all...)"

"(But, you guys sure are intimate for you to casually call him Akira-san.)"

"(Well, we're married after all.)"

Luise and Delia whisper about Akira who draws the most attention from them men.

"Sensei, is it going to be alright? My parents forbade me to enter the slums..."

"My brother told me the same."

"Saying that I'd be kidnapped and so on."

"Usually that would be the case. But today you don't need to worry. Just stay close to me."

"""Okaaay! We'll stay close to you, sensei!"""

"You got really cheerful all of a sudden."

The three girls looked worried after entering the slums for the first time in their lives, but I explained to them that they wouldn't need to worry today. Once in a while ill-bred folks would steal money from country bumpkins who wander into this district. But, doing something like that with Doushi around would be like signing your own death sentence.

Even in the very unlikely event they succeeded, they might end up on the executioner's block if they cause damage to the Royal Head Wizard. Thus, because it'd be a high-risk-low-return endeavor, no one blocked our way.

"This is the place."

"Oh, a restaurant serving entrails dishes?"

"Indeed. Have you already eaten entrails dishes, Delia?"

"Several times. My employees also happened to buy them grilled on a skewer as an afternoon snack. Since there will be leftovers if you filet fish, dishes with leftovers from fish are often served as fishmonger meals, but we've also traded them with the entrails dishes of an acquaintance butcher. Therefore I'm familiar with it."

I see, leftover dishes at a fishmonger are a special privilege only available to the staff working there, huh? Listening to her, it woke the urge in me to eat fish entrails soup. I suppose I'll ask Akira later to make it for me.

"Welcome, Sir. Today you have a fairly big company with you, don't you?"

The elderly shopkeeper seems to be surprised to see us, but he talks normally to Doushi. It looks like he's already gotten used to Doushi as he's a regular here.

"Serve us the dishes in suitable amounts! Liquor for me, too!"

As it appears to be a period of time with few customers, we sit down around a table located deeper inside the store and wait for the food.

"Entrails dishes, huh?"

"Are you bad with them?"

"No."

Around the time when the Baumeister Earldom had been just founded, we often ate at Arnold's food cart which also serves entrails dishes. The stew and skewers were especially great. Given that he could quickly incorporate soy sauce and miso into his cooking, he's very popular among the construction workers.

Back then Arnold had started out with a food cart, but nowadays he's running several bars in Baulburg thanks to all his delicious dishes. Many people, aiming for the special funding provided for the earldom's development, have immigrated into Baulburg, but Arnold succeeded so magnificently because he chose a different approach.

"Uncle-sama, this is a good restaurant."

"Right?"

"It doesn't smell of blood."

Elise has apparently noticed that this is a great place as well.

When it comes to commoners with low income eating meat, they often rely on the intestines of monsters and animals, which would usually be thrown away. Entrails can be obtained cheaply, but if you don't cook them well, the dishes will stink.

In slums you will find many restaurants with the bad stench of entrails hanging in the air. It's because many people eat such dishes while saying they taste good because they're cheap, even if they might stink.

However, this restaurant has no such bad stench. It's proof of the cook cooking the food after skillfully processing the entrails.

"Thank you very much for waiting."

While we're talking, the owner and his wife carry over the dishes. They have also brought a big mug filled with high-proof distilled liquor.

"Doushi, this tour has nothing to do with alcohol, you know?"

"It is just for cheering up! You do not need to mind it!"

Doushi ignored Eru's objection as usual.

"Ron-chan, just one mug, okay?"

"...Yes."

However, when Candy-san forbids him to get a refill of liquor, he obeys.

"This is delicious. The taste is very gentle."

"You're right. It doesn't smell at all either. Even back home in the sticks we cooked the entrails from hunting in such a way, but they'd always smell a bit, no matter what."

Elise, and Amalie-san, who had more opportunities to cook ever since she started to live at the Baumeister mansion, seem to like the entrails dishes.

"Plenty of various entrails have been used."

"Since it's so delicious, I've become even hungrier."

Katia apparently has found a liking to the dishes of this restaurant as well, and Wilma immediately orders another serving.

"Such a flavor by just using salt and small quantities of herbs is truly amazing."

"They are improving the taste by putting a lot of time and effort into it." Doushi explains to me while gulping down his liquor.

It's not like it's particularly necessary for him to drink alcohol, but since telling him wouldn't change anything anyway, everyone lets it pass.

"Another mug!"

"Haah, I said no."

"Yes..."

Doushi tried to use the general hustle and bustle around the corner as cover to order another mug, but Candy-san prevented him from succeeding.

"Ron-chan, that trick won't work on me. Just like it hasn't worked in the past."

It sounds like Candy-san rebuked Doushi fairly often in the past for drinking too much alcohol.

"Uncle-sama, Candy-san is absolutely right."

"Ron-chan, you mess up too much when you're drunk, you know?"

"(Uuhh... a joint attack by Elise and Candy-dono is too much for me...)"

Certainly, I think it might be tough on him as it's like him having two wives watching his behavior.

Clearing his throat, Doushi explains, "This restaurant is on the slightly more expensive side among the restaurants that sell entrails dishes in this area. But, it is prospering because of the outstandingly good taste."

As lunch time is gradually getting closer, many customers enter the restaurant. All of them are surprised when they spot us, but they immediately order their food and focus on their own meals.

Since we're no celebrities and since they can't call out to us, ask for autographs, or request pictures with them, it might be only natural, though.

"This restaurant is cooking the entrails in huge pots!" Doushi looks in the direction of the kitchen.

Over there steam rises from three big pots.

"Three pots means they won't have enough if they don't make three at once?"

"No, they increased the number of pots to three in a hurry."

"Why?"

"About that... owner!"

"Aiyoo."

Called over by Doushi, the owner brings bowls with additional entrails stew.

Looking closely, I can see that the stews have a different color.

"It's miso flavor and soy sauce flavor."

"As a result of having increased the variety of entrails stew, this restaurant has become even more popular! The stews with miso and soy sauce taste are somewhat expensive, but despite that, they are selling well!"

Okay, so on top of the restaurants in the Baumeister Earldom, miso and soy sauce have started to be used as ingredients even in the slums of the capital. In short, all restaurants are competing while using their own means to do so.

"Owner! Bring that out!"

"Aiyoo."

Doushi appears to be a considerably frequent customer. After all, the owner knows what he's ordered by him just saying 'that'.

The puts a handheld cooking device run by charcoal, resembling an earthen charcoal brazier, on the table. And then he carries over plates filled with entrails pickled in a seasoning liquid.

"This is yet another slightly expensive dish, but it is very popular."

Doushi picks up the entrails with experienced movements, places them on the wire meshing, and grills them.

"I'll help you."

"Erwin boy, the entrails are separated by miso, soy sauce, and seasoning sauce! You must not mix them together!"

"How picky..."

Having turned into a grill master, Doushi keeps roasting the entrails while giving Eru strict instructions.

"If you grill this part of the intestines, excess fat is going to dribble down. The sauce will be heated by the charcoal, causing a fragrant aroma to spread."

It totally reminds me of the yakiniku places I visited in my previous life. The Baumeister Household occasionally does barbecue parties, but such B-grade-like, grilled entrails seem to be great as well.

"You can put them into your mouth once they are roasted! Awesome! Wash down the remaining salt, miso, and soy sauce taste with liquor while enjoying the taste! It is the very best!"

That's completely the line of an ordinary, old drunkard, but I agree with him in my mind. It's a cooking that's not appropriate for nobility, but it's still a fact that it tastes wonderful.

"It reminds me of us having grilled meat outdoors during lunchtime." Elise enjoys the grilled entrails while looking blissful.

But because her conduct clearly shows her upbringing as a noble lady, she feels out of place in this restaurant. However, given that Elise has been adventuring with us, it's not like she's completely against this kind of cooking. In her case, she excels at improving cooking like this into something elegant.

Whenever she encounters cooking that doesn't taste good and only has it being high-class going for it, she sticks to a completely diplomatic attitude.

"This means miso and soy sauce have spread a lot more than expected. Did you develop those ingredients in the past or something, Earl Baumeister-sama."

"Yeah. In the past I found a book about Mizuho in Breitburg. Information about miso and soy sauce was written there."

Of course, that's a big lie. No matter how cute Akira might be, I cannot afford to divulge my true identity. Me having pretended that I experimented as a loner while using an old book as reference has completely played into my cards.

"Though it was quite tough as I tried to produce them with just magic."

"I think overall it is a nice and decent miso."

"I'd say it's normal."

"Because it's not limited in its use, it's actually magnificent instead."

I think my miso loses out against the Mizuho-native miso on all fronts, but it doesn't feel bad to be praised by Akira. As expected, the praise of a pretty girl... bah, wrong!

"Let's just say that it led to miso and soy sauce being mass produced at a considerably good quality."

"If you keep producing something for many years, the quality will improve as well. However, the history of miso and soy sauce is long in Mizuho. It won't be simple to catch up with that."

Even if they export products of average quality, the profit might be rather low due to the long distance, so Mizuho is obviously planning to sell high-class products to the wealthy people of the Kingdom. In reality, the Empire is doing the same, I've heard.

"So as you can see, this is the cooking they are doing here! So, let us move on to the next!"

After having eaten most of the menu, Doushi asks the owner for the bill. It looks like he's going to pay for us here.

All of us have limited our eating to some taste sampling, but with us being a big group, and since we have Wilma with us, it should have added up to a fairly big sum... or I guess not. Unable to get rid of my habit from my previous life, I end up feeling like stuff is expensive if the bill exceeds 10,000 Yen. I suppose I still haven't escaped a poor man's mindset.

"It's going to be a great reference as it was delicious. Akira-san, how are you going to improve on the entrails cooking?"

On the way from the slums to the middle class district, Elise, as someone who likes cooking, chats up Akira who's good at cooking like her. Elise, who's still plenty beautiful despite being a mother, and Akira, who's a Mizuho-styled beauty, would make for a great painting... no wait, Akira is a guy.

"It might be great to carefully and thoroughly cook them together with many other ingredients and soy sauce as base."

"That sounds great."

Elise and Akira get excited as they talk about cooking. Still, I really want to eat Akira's entrails stew as soon as possible.

"Akira, don't forget to add spring onion and shichimi to the stew."

"Nothing less of you, Earl Baumeister-sama."

Getting praised by Akira definitely doesn't feel bad.

* * *

"Sensei, my brother's business is thriving without him getting too cocky about it."

"Betty, aren't you going a bit too far there with the wording?"

"But, look, my brother always immediately gets caught up in the moment..."

"Vel, it just means he's an unreliable elder brother as usual."

The restaurant of Betty's brother I previously gave some fake consulting is flourishing. Rather, I actually feel like there's more customers now than the last time I was here. Even if you take into account that it's lunchtime, the number of guests has definitely grown.

"Since they look busy, I think we should call out to him after lunchtime is over."

"I guess you're right."

We wasted some time at another place and then, one hour later, we went to greet Betty's brother.

"Ohh! What a pleasure to see you, Earl Baumeister-sama! It seems I'll be able to repay the debt on time!"

"It does look like your business is going quite well."

"I've done my research and put out new menus after all."

Seeing how he's hired a new employee, the sales should be doing fine, too.

"But, brother, you always get carried away in no time."

"Betty, I'm doing my job properly."

"I see. It sure is difficult to regain trust that has been lost once!"

"No way..."

Betty's brother ends up slumping his shoulders when hearing the unnecessary comment from Doushi.

"Ron-chan, you caused quite a few issues in the past, experiencing how easy it is to lose trust, didn't you? Like the one time where you drank yourself silly until morning, went to our client just like that, and barfed all over the place—"

"—Candy-dono! I have never done anything like that!"

Hearing that makes me wonder what was wrong with this guy... that's cutting loose way too much, isn't it?

"Anyway, all's fine as long as your business doesn't deteriorate because you got too cocky..."

"Rosa is with me for this reason..."

He's being terribly trash talked, but I think that Betty's brother has a considerable talent in cooking. Since he occasionally tries to proceed with things while lacking a plan, the person restraining him at such times... his wife Rosa... seems to be a great deterrent.

Him being dominated by her allowed his business to go smoothly.

"So you mentioned a new menu?"

"Yes, madam. The lunch is for small profits and quick returns. The main dish is something served on one plate to get our nightly customers to learn the taste. Stew with boiled sinewy meat and entrails is a popular menu item, but I've also started serving pasta. Currently it's in the test phase."

While explaining things to Elise, Betty's brother brings pasta he prepared quickly. The noodles are ordinary pasta, and it's garnished with a tomato sauce and a sauce of cooked sinewy meat and entrails. It's like an entrails version of spaghetti with a meat sauce.

When I sample it, the taste is balanced and delicious, just as I've imagined it to be.

"Also, I've been using miso and soy sauce, too."

What he served next was a pasta dish with minced meat that had been cooked with miso and other ingredients. It's a dish similar to Chinese zhajiangmian with pasta but without broth. The soy-based sauce also contains onions and mushrooms. I got to say, he's researched this one well, too.

Him having come up with this by himself means that his cooking skills have definitely gone up.

"It also has a salad to go with it, and together they cost 7 cents. A big serving of noodles increases the prince by 1 cent. It's also possible to add fried and deep-fried food, as it's served at night, to it. Each of them increases the price by 1 cent."

I end up admiring Betty's brother for having become so good at business.

"Rosa has said that it'd be better to handle it like that."

"Ah I see..."

Unfortunately, the one with the talent was his wife.

"So, where's your wife?"

"She's currently at our new restaurant."

"Oh, okay..."

For them to have opened another place in such a short time... it looks like Rosa-san got a really good business sense.

"Sensei, I can feel relieved because Rosa-san is here."

I had such a premonition, but it appears that Betty trusts her sister-in-law more than her own brother.

"Betty! I'm doing my best as well, you know!?"

Sure enough, tears welled up in her brother's eyes because of Betty's treatment.

"Hmm, I see. What comes around goes around. The same applies to past wrongdoings."

"No kidding."

"..."

"No way..."

Betty's brother drops his shoulders once more because of Doushi's merciless comment, but as Doushi apparently hasn't been any better in his past, isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? Even so, if I consider that the current Doushi has become a lot more tame that in the past, his youth must... no, let's not go there.

* * *

"Earl Baumeister-sama, we are indebted to you for various things, including the care of my sister-in-law Betty."

When we head over to their new restaurant after having Betty's brother tell us where to find it, Rosa-san, who's acting as the owner over there, greets us very politely. Her shrewdness lets me fully understand that her husband's success heavily depends on her.

"Rosa-san, I'm sorry for my brother."

"Recently he's completely absorbed in his research, so it's okay."

"Feel free to put him on a tight leash if does something silly again."

"Of course, no need to tell me."

Them having been acquaintances for a while now was another reason why Rosa and Betty got along well. Wife and sister-in-law being intimate because of the brother and husband being such a goof-ball might be a ridiculous twist of fate.

"We've heard from him about the new restaurant."

"This place only sells the noodle dishes my husband has come up with. Though it also has a reasonable variety of side menus."

Ramen doesn't exist in this world, but there are all kinds of noodles. It takes time and effort to make soup, but pasta that doesn't require any broth doesn't need that much time, and thus can be sold at a quick pace for quick earnings.

In reality, Rosa-san's restaurant is flourishing as well, although lunchtime is over already.

"We also have half-sized menus for the quick hunger."

"Huh? That kind of resembles fon..."

"It's something like an improved fon."

"Amalie-san, you know about fon?"

Fon is a noodle dish that's casually eaten by the commoners on this continent. It's been around for a very, very long time. The noodles, which are thicker than those of pasta, have fried vegetables and salty scrap meat added to them. The amount of noodles is around half of that an ordinary adult would eat. The price is commonly 2 or 3 cents per serving, so many people eat it as a snack when feeling a bit hungry.

"My territory had almost no restaurants, but a restaurant serving fon did exist. Sometimes when my brother had some extra income through hunting, he treated me to fon."

"Hee, I didn't know."

"But, isn't fon as a dish currently hard pressed?"

"Yes, it is just as you say, madam. Currently many noodle dishes are being developed in the capital. Even the existing restaurants serving fon have been putting out new menus, but there are also cases where fon restaurants go bankrupt after having their customers taken by new stores."

Fon is a noodle dish with its history going back several thousand years. As a result of many restaurants having rested on their laurels while sticking with their traditional fon cooking, they went bankrupt because they were left behind by the recent new cooking boom. And Rosa-san predicts that this trend is going to continue.

"It's going to be hard for newcomers like us if we don't put out new dishes regularly. That's why I'm pestering my husband to keep coming up with new things. His cooking skills and ability to think of new dishes are high. Though his business skills are rather questionable."

I guess they're succeeding because Rosa-san compensates that part.

"Therefore we will pay back the money you lent us as planned.

"Launching a new restaurant and yet paying back your debts on time, you guys sure are amazing."

Eru also admires Rosa-san's business ability.

"I suppose fon has gone out of fashion. But, it's certainly true that I don't remember having eaten it recently."

"Since I don't like it overly much, I don't feel like going out of my way to eat it."

As a matter of fact, I share Luise's opinion. It's not like I hate fon, but it's a dish I'd be hard pressed to call a favorite dish of mine.

"I also don't recall having eaten it most recently." Wilma adds.

I think Baulburg has no restaurants serving fon, and we didn't really feel an urge to eat it either. I remember having visited fon restaurants on several occasions on the way back after receiving training from Doushi in the past.

"Earl Baumeister, that restaurant is close-by."

"Come to think of it, you're right."

"I do remember having been in this area of the city."

Having it pointed out by Doushi, Luise and I remember. An old, well-established fon restaurant, which the three of us frequented, had been in this neighborhood. Doushi had gone for the big eater challenge several times, but he never managed to become the champion... wait?

"Champion?"

"I'm the champion."

Everyone simultaneously looks at Wilma.

Since people capable of winning an eating contest against Doushi are rare, I can fully understand that Wilma is the champion.

"Wilma, you haven't gone there recently either, have you?"

"I had no time to do so. The restaurants I visited together with you, Vel-sama, were great, too."

Just like with the previous river fish restaurant, it might be the pattern of her simply having stopped going there because she's become particular about her food. Luise and I immediately gave up on fon, so Wilma might not have liked it overly much either.

"How about you, Doushi?"

"Hmm, recently there are so many other restaurants I want to eat at, so it has been a while since I last went there!"

"Rosa-san, sorry about asking you about another restaurant, but how are they doing?"

"Umm, since it's a business where you have to catch a weasel asleep, I actually opened the new restaurant here because I thought we could win."

Their noodle dishes are a bit more expensive than fon, but they're delicious, and since they have a big variety of noodle dishes, this restaurant has successfully taken the customers of the old fon restaurant, I guess.

"Vel-sama, let's go and take a look."

"You're right. I think it'll be a good reference."

* * *

Being urged by Wilma and Akira, we head over to the nearby, old fon restaurant. Once we get there, we can see that it's completely deserted, despite having thrived with guests in the past.

"Somehow it's become desolate, hasn't it? Just as Rosa-san said, it must be about to go bankrupt..."

"Shhh, Luise!"

I hurriedly cover Luise's mouth as she unconsciously blurted out her opinion. If the people of the restaurant heard her, they'd feel offended.

"Oh!! Isn't that the champion?"

"Long time no see."

"It's really been a long time, hasn't it?"

Once the restaurant's owner spots the big eater champion Wilma, he runs up to her. The owner seems to call Wilma champion.

"Ughghgh..."

"Doushi, you're no child, so..."

Having never managed to take the championship, Doushi looks at Wilma with a frustrated expression, just like a kid.

"Oh my, Ron-chan, even though no one could measure up to you in binge eating during your youth, you can't win against Wilma-chan, huh?"

"..."

I see. Doushi's confidence is based on the fact that no one won against him in eating contests in the past, eh?

"For the champion to have become Earl Baumeister-sama's wife, how unexpected..."

"Life is unpredictable..."

"It certainly is as you say. Want me to serve you some fon?"

"Please."

"Right away."

All of us enter the restaurant, but not a single customer can be found inside. It's a typical noodle dish with small profits and quick returns, but if they don't have any customers like this, it makes me worry whether their business is going to hold out much longer.

"Thank you for waiting."

Fon being served right after having been ordered is one of its sales points. I tried to eat it at once, but I immediately remembered that it had such a taste. A taste I had experienced at a time when I was forced to accompany Doushi on his training.

Basically it uses salt as seasoning, and it's somewhat okay as food, but eating lots of it tires you out. It's not like the taste gets worse over time, but since it's not really good when compared to pasta and broth-less noodles that use miso and soy sauce, it's probably only natural for customers to get bored of it.

"How does it taste?"

"No different from before."

Wilma is surprisingly fussy about taste, but she asserts that the fon's taste hasn't become worse.

"Thank you very much."

"But, since others have become delicious, I feel like it's not that good in comparison."

"Certainly, you could say so..."

The owner has apparently noticed the weakness of fon as well.

"Won't you serve any new noodle dishes?"

"That's... I can't make anything but fon..."

The noodles are made by hand, and his cooking skill isn't bad either, but the owner has only made fon. Could you describe this as him obstinately protecting tradition, or rather him resting on his laurels due to tradition?

"Wouldn't it be fine to serve fon with soy sauce and miso flavor?"

Eru's advice is random and non-serious, but I think this method could work. While keeping the basic dish of fon alive, you add new flavors to it. With this, it won't thwart tradition and so on either.

"I considered that method as well, but in reality, other restaurants have been doing just that for a while now..."

There exist many restaurants serving fon in the capital, its circumference, and even rural noble territories. They're making their noodle dishes while using soy sauce and miso which have been gradually spreading from the capital. Even if he imitates them at this point in time, it'll be seen as a rehashing of an old idea and won't draw any customers, according to the owner.

"Though it'd be best if you made up your mind as fast as possible."

"Indeed. Sometimes it is necessary to go all in with business."

Doushi, who talks about business although he's never run one himself, and Luise stop eating their fon, and blame the owner for his slow drive to take action.

"I thought that I'd try to come up with an extraordinary, wonderful fon, if I'm going to reform it anyway."

"Depending on the circumstances, there are times when it is better to go with quick solutions, even if they are not perfect."

I think Doushi is telling the truth, although he shouldn't have a clue about business. It'd be nice if he could proceed with the improvements after gathering the attention of customers by simply adding miso and soy sauce flavoring to fon, and buying himself some time with this measure.

Now that the customers have left the restaurant like this, it's definitely unrealistic to think that they'd come back on droves over some rehashed, old idea. After all, it'd be seen as copying other restaurants.

"At times it is necessary to risk something!"

Although I don't think that he's ever run a store, Doushi's argument is reasonable.

It has apparently struck the owner's heart as well, seeing how he's dropped his shoulders in disappointment.

"I can't make anything other than fon. I know that this restaurant is doomed at this rate, but I can't quite take the first step. I don't want this restaurant to go bankrupt either."

Since the owner looks really down, I feel a pang of guilt, although I haven't said anything.

"Owner, another bowl!"

"Doushi, please show some remorse."

Even though he's the reason for the owner to feel devastated, Doushi orders another serving of fon without a care. Even Eru feels that it's way too cruel and gives Doushi a warning, and I agree with him.

"But, if no one tells him, this restaurant is going to be closed eventually."

"No, well... that's true, but..."

Still, I think there are some nicer ways to put it. Thanks to Doushi, the owner has become needlessly depressed.

"Another serving? Here you go. Next time this restaurant might not be around anymore though..."

"Doushi..."

"Uncle-sama..."

As might be expected, Luise and Elise considered Doushi to be heartless and reproached him for his words.

"Ah, but telling others the truth is important. In the past Ron-chan, also—"

"—It is, as you say, Candy-dono!"

Doushi had been cautioned about various things in his youth by Candy-dono. Probably because he has finally calmed down nowadays... wait, has he actually calmed down?

"Restaurant will be closed?"

"Right now I'm somehow managing with the savings I put aside so far, but at this rate..."

Once the owner explains to Wilma that it's just a matter of time for the restaurant to be closed, Wilma's expression suddenly turns gloomy.

"Champion, please don't worry since I'll serve you ten servings for the price of one as I've done until now. Ah, but I guess you've grown tired of my obsolete, unchanged fon..."

The instant the owner finishes speaking, Wilma clings to me with tears in her eyes.

"He took good care of me when I couldn't get anything to eat in the past... Vel-sama, save him..."

"Me?"

"Just like previously, you should be able to do something about this. Please, Vel-sama..."

I feel like I've already seen this once... no, it's not a deja vu, but a real occurrence.

Now that Wilma is imploring me like this, I can't turn her down. But, the eel restaurant issue somehow worked out with just some suitable knowledge input, but the same can't be said about noodle dishes...

It'd be a drama, if I accept the task and the restaurant goes bankrupt as a result of it.

"How about you take it up, since this restaurant is doomed to fail otherwise anyway?"

"Such an irresponsible..."

Doushi really takes it easy since it's someone else's problem.

"Ron-chan being irresponsible in many ways is a fault of his since the past, but Akira-chan and I are here as well."

"I am not that irresponsible... it is just that Earl Baumeister will be able to somehow handle it."

"Please, if you can give me a hint, no matter how trivial it might be..."

With me being not only encouraged by Doushi, but also Candy-san, it ended with me relaunching my fake consulting business once more.

Chapter 08: Mankind Is Noodles (Last Part)

"Milord, you really have not changed a bit..."

"It's just that I get weak when tearfully begged by Wilma."

"Has Wilma-sama been possessed by something like a strong sense of duty when hearing about the circumstances...?"

"It's a restaurant that took good care of her in the past, apparently."

We decided to stop the restaurant tour in the capital, which had been scheduled to last for three days, in favor of rebuilding an old, established fon restaurant. When I informed Roderich that I'd stay at my mansion in the capital for a while, he didn't file any protests in particular.

"Well, you could also say the good you do for others is good you do for yourself."

A proverb similar to the one in Japan exists in this world as well. Roderich also went through various hardships before he started to serve the Baumeister House. Maybe he can't tell Wilma off because he mediated governmental employment and entrusted jobs to the people who greatly helped him back then, as long as it was within his own authority to do so.

"However, I'm sure one person won't be very happy with this."

"You're quite perceptive, Roderich."

The person, who was angry at me for going to help the fon restaurant, was Betty whose brother had launched a new restaurant nearby.

"Sensei! You're awful! My brother's business was finally on its way to return to normal, and yet you do this!"

Usually she was pretty unrelenting towards her brother, but it was definitely not like she hated him. Her rough way of treating him came from her love as his little sister who earnestly wished for him to get his act together.

"Sensei, if that restaurant recovers at this point, the debts of Betty's brother are going to increase again."

"Sensei, that's awfully mean towards Betty-chan."

Agnes and Cindy also argued in favor of Betty.

It wasn't wrong what the three were saying. I've been supportive of Betty's brother's business, so it'd make no sense for me to sabotage his success here.

"I'll assist his side as well. Even if a nearby restaurant is going to compete against him, there are ways to handle it well."

If I only listened to Wilma's request, it'd plunge Betty's brother's restaurant into trouble. Now that things had developed like this, it was too late to pull out, so in the end I was forced to give advice to both restaurants.

"Really? Thank you so much! I love you, sensei!"

Betty hugged me as soon as I told her that I'd also help her brother's restaurant.

I wasn't sure what to think about a girl of marriageable age hugging a guy, but without a moment's delay, Wilma tore Betty off me with her herculean strength.

"Only his wives are allowed to tell Vel-sama that they love him."

"It's still not okay for you to do that. Same applies to you two as well, Agnes, Cindy."

"Like this they won't be able to hug him anymore."

Agnes and Cindy were about to imitate Betty, but in addition to Katia, who was no inferior in speed, and Elise, who was unexpectedly alert in not overlooking things like this, I was getting hugged by my wives from three sides.

"Not yet! The place above sensei's head is still free! I'll show you the fruits of my special magic training!"

Agnes, who didn't quite want to give up yet, swiftly chanted the spell for 『Flight』, and tried to get on my shoulders.

"Too bad. Something like that is no biggie for me, even without relying on magic~"

Lastly, Luise used the floating Agnes as a stepping stone to jump on my shoulders like an acrobat. Now, with me giving her a shoulder ride, there was no free spot on my body left.

"So fast..."

"Uuuhh, there's no openings left.

"Huuumph~ as if veteran adventurers like Wilma, Katia, or me would show you fledglings any openings. Dream on.

Agnes, Betty, and Cindy looked frustrated with their plan of hugging me thwarted. Me not feeling almost any weight when Luise jumped on my shoulders was no surprise, but with Elise, Wilma, and Katia additionally embracing me from all sides, it had become impossible for me to move.

"Come on... even you, Elise?"

"Since you are Earl Baumeister, dear, you must only pay attention to your wives."

"Okay..."

I became unable to respond to Elise's sound argument while the three girls looked devastated.

"Ha ha ha! Great men have great fondness for sensual pleasures, was it? As expected of you, milord.

"Do you see any heroes around here? Great men and heroes are a lot more diligent, Roderich."

At least, they wouldn't exploit their knowledge to revamp restaurants, would they?

"So, do you have any measures in mind, milord?"

"It'll be fine. I'll also get Arterio-san to help out."

"I suppose he will immediately get on board once he learns that there is money to be earned..."

After receiving Roderich's permission, I took Akira and the others as helpers with me, and teleported to the capital. Once we headed over to the fon restaurant in question, the owner, his family, and Betty's sister-in-law, Rosa-san, were already there.

"Rosa-san, what about your new store?"

"Since I have a trustable shopkeeper candidate, I've left it in his hands."

"Earl Baumeister-sama, won't you call Betty-san's brother over as well?"

"No, this task doesn't suit him."

Akira has also accompanied me in order to offer his cooking skills and knowledge of the Mizuho cuisine, and because he's in the middle of developing noodle dishes. He left his stores in Baulburg to his wife.

"It doesn't suit him?"

"Betty's older brother is a good cook. He's smart enough to come up with decent new menus, if he puts in some effort. As long as he employs several people, he'll surely manage."

But, everything beyond cooking isn't his. When it comes to negotiating good prices for ingredients and procuring the necessary amounts, putting the business's administration in order, accounting work, or increasing the number of restaurants, he's completely useless. If you compare a restaurant with a human's body, handling the arms is his limit, no matter how much he struggles.

On the other hand, his wife, Rosa-san, is good at brain work, or rather, it might be her calling in life.

"I see. That makes sense."

And Akira is one of those rare people who excel in all of it.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, if the number of guests drops in our new restaurant, it'll also delay the repayment of our debts..."

As I thought, Rosa-san seems rather unhappy with me lending the fon restaurant a hand in its reorganization. Then again, it's going to affect her future, so it's only natural for her to react like this.

"The development of new menus can advance as well, but it'll be alright since the overall number of customers is going to rise through other means."

"The number of customers is going to rise? How?"

"I'll tell you about this once everyone has gathered."

"Everyone?"

"Earl-sama, sorry for having kept you waiting."

"Well—Baron Baumeister-sama... err... Earl-sama! This humble Rinnenheim would have never imagined that you would become such a big noble in such a short period of time."

Arterio-san, who's making profits in the capital while also being the Baumeister House's chief purveyor, and the shady realtor Rinnenheim, who's been making a killing by selling flawed property, are going to play a major part in my plan to grow the customer base.

"Earl-sama, it sounds like you've been planning something interesting?"

"We won't know whether it's going to become something interesting until we give it a try."

"I think it has a high chance to succeed. Anyway, let's start."

First we'll start with a meeting. Entering the fon restaurant which has been temporarily closed for renovations, all of us sit down around a table and begin to discuss the matters at hand.

"Rinnenheim, do you have a map of this district?"

"Yes, I have brought it with me."

Given his job, Rinnenheim has independently drawn up a map of this district. He spread out a big map on the table.

"There's a lot more than I had expected..."

"What do you mean, Earl-sama?"

"The number of restaurants on this map that went bankrupt."

"Ah, that's because this district lies in the middle of being a residential district and one with many workshops and stores. It's kind of half-baked."

Arterio-san explains the circumstances shown on the map.

The restaurants providing lunch for workers are tending more towards the workshop areas. On the other hand, restaurants catering towards families are closer to the residential area. Since it's such a half-baked area, there were no restaurants where you could eat a light snack on the go, except for the fon restaurant and Rosa-san's... it's essentially her restaurant, isn't it?... new store.

"Won't it be difficult to increase the customer base under these circumstances?"

"We just need to pull customers over."

"And how?"

"That's the reason why I invited Rinnenheim."

"Yes, I was called over by His Excellency Earl Baumeister-sama. This lowly servant will go through fire and floods if it's for the sake of His Excellency."

"You don't need to go so far. Anyway, take control of all properties that can be remodeled into restaurants in this district."

"As you wish, I shall do so at once."

"Also, those properties as well, I'd say."

Those properties... refers to flawed property no one wants to approach mainly for spiritual reasons. In other words, it's the kind of property Rinnenheim specializes in.

"As long as we exorcize the ghosts in there, it'll be a cheap buy, won't it?"

"Yes, you will essentially obtain them for free."

It's troublesome if evil spirits possess restaurants, shops, and private homes of commoners. If it's valuable property, the church or adventurers capable of holy magic will be hired to purify them. But, commoners can't fork over money in the range of millions of cents so easily.

If you also consider the expenses of cleaning and rebuilding after the purification, it's simpler to rent out a new place, and since there's plenty of replacement properties available, many haunted properties are abandoned as flawed property.

If this had been a district inhabited by the poor, the church would have regularly exorcised the area as part of its charity work. But, this is a half-baked district where middle-class residents live. As such, this area won't be cleaned in the line of doing charity work, and the number of people who can pay for an exorcism is low, resulting in a certain number of houses always remaining behind as flawed property.

"We'll exorcize them after Rinnenheim has seized the flawed properties."

"I agree with Earl Baumeister-sama's opinion. Also, make sure to not tell anyone about this."

"Why?" The owner of the fon restaurant asks Rinnenheim, making it pretty obvious that he has no idea of real estate whatsoever.

"If the owners hear about Earl Baumeister-sama's intent to purify the flawed properties, they will raise the prices for the property. The keys to profit in business are speed, monopolization, and information concealment."

I also agree with Rinnenheim on this, but in the end it immediately becomes fishy when coming out of his mouth.

"Indeed. If the owners hear that Earl Baumeister-sama is going to exorcize their property, they'll increase the prices on houses that are completely worthless."

"That is the idea here."

"I thank you very much for explaining it to me, but I actually possess three flawed properties myself..."

"Oh my, oh my, that means I ended up blundering on the third key for a successful business — information concealment."

I guess you could say that's to be expected of the owner of a shop with a long history. Even Rinnenheim was perplexed by his unexpected stubbornness to hold onto such property for so long.

* * *

"Oh, milady, it has been truly a long time since our last meeting."

"Thank you very much for your extravagant baby gift."

"Given that Gochy is also deeply indebted to you, I actually feel embarrassed to not have sent anything more appropriate."

Several days later, it was decided that we'd purify the flawed properties in this district. Except for the ones owned by the fon restaurant owner, Rinnenheim has bought up all flawed properties in this area without a hitch. Thanks to the evil spirits, the properties not only had no value, but they were loss-making due to the taxes, and thus Rinnenheim could apparently beat down the prices to almost zero.

And when it comes to purifications, it's got to be Elise-sensei's turn.

"So you are going to revive and make the stores, which could not be managed because of the evil spirits, thrive with many people. Nothing less of you, dear."

I've become a very good person in Elise's mind, but I'll accept her praise just like that since it's not wrong when looking at the intended outcome.

She greeted Rinnenheim, an acquaintance of hers, but if I remember correctly, his baby gift was definitely quite luxurious. Since his son, Gochy, opened a real estate agency in Baulburg, it might have also served as his thanks for that.

By the way, Rinnenheim's son is running a respectable real estate agency. I've heard that Rinnenheim is the first generation in this business, so his son might have toned down a bit on the excessively strong-willed business drive compared to his father. Given that Baulburg doesn't have any flawed property as of yet, it's also true that there's no room for his father to make a move, and thus it's become the son's duty to run a business there.

"(Vel, are we really going to rely on this guy again?)"

"(Well, he does perform the jobs he's given properly.)"

"(If you say so, I'm fine with it, but still...)"

In addition, Eru... he's keeping his distance from Rinnenheim since he seems unable to get along with him... has come with us as guide, and also the fon restaurant owner who's going to act as our guide, being the local he is. The owner's family, Rosa-san, and the cooks hired by her are currently exploring new menus at the closed fon restaurant.

I've provided some ideas for noodle dishes, so they're experimenting around while using my recipes as reference. As it was related to my job in my previous life, I know the recipes of noodle dishes that were popular in Japan and abroad. However, in some cases the ingredients don't exist in this world, and even if similar ingredients do exist, it's not necessarily said that they fit as ingredients.

If you don't compensate for the lacking ingredients with substitutes, the dishes won't work, and thus you must go through trials and errors to find the perfect combination of ingredients. Otherwise the dishes won't sell. And even if you've finally found a good recipe, you won't be able to maintain the flavor by always using the same combination. The same ingredients usually differ in taste depending on season, producing area, and the growth conditions.

Hence, if you don't adjust the mixing ratio while taking all that into account, the taste you've painstakingly discovered will become misaligned, and if the taste shifts towards being disgusting, the customers will leave in droves.

I've given them some hints, but the rest depends on the skills of the cooks.

* * *

"What a nice smell."

"If you properly prepare the broth, the aroma and taste improves drastically."

"What are you going to make with this?"

"I've planned to make udon."

Even back in Baulburg, Akira had happily experimented on making udon and soba together with Ina and the others. He had decided to go along with my plan, and set up a noodle restaurant.

When he made some udon soup stock in the kitchen of his own restaurant, he got a passing grade from Ina for its taste.

"I see, you've prepared two pots?"

"Yes, Mizuho's udon soup stock differs in color between the east and west. The amount of salt isn't all that different, though."

"Speaking of udon, we ate it at a restaurant in Mizuho during the civil war, but this is quite delicious in its own right."

"Luise-sama, the broth is done. I'll make the noodles by hand here, and then put the udon into the broth after boiling them."

"Handmade udon are interesting. But, the same can be said about soba making."

"They're genuine noodle makers who have been training their skills in well-established restaurants."

Akira recruited skilled noodle makers from old soba and udon restaurants in Mizuho for the sake of making his branch stores in the capital succeed.

"Say, is it really okay for you to headhunt such valuable cooks?"

Katia asks Akira with a worried look, suspecting that their former restaurants might complain about him recruiting their skilled noodle makers.

"I've recruited them after getting permission from the restaurants."

"Really?"

"Yes. Currently, Mizuho is overrun with udon and miso restaurants..."

Since the market over there is saturated, it's questionable whether they'd be able to open their own restaurants even after finishing their training.

The Duke Mizuho House obtained new land, but since the it's located next to the old territory, the new land already has its own udon and soba restaurants. Even if they were to set up new restaurants over there, their chances for success are low. As such, the young noodle makers volunteered to go abroad in order to make a name for themselves in another country.

"If there's several people who've trained at one and the same restaurant, things will become difficult if you try to hire new people, won't they? A well-established restaurant wouldn't want the age distribution among its employees to become too biased."

There are also many cases where a restaurant doesn't hire new employees because it cannot afford the cost of labor, and next thing they know, all their employees have grown old. There's nothing as bad for the continuation of a restaurant as this.

"It can also serve as a destination for the children of a family that runs a well-established restaurant."

Just like a noble territory, a restaurant can only be inherited by one child. Even if they set up branch stores under the same name, effectively capitalizing on the restaurant's reputation, for the second son and following, it's highly likely that they'll fail under the current circumstances. If the younger sons become employees at their family's restaurant, they won't be able to make a living unless they get paid a reasonable wage. Naturally, it'll become impossible to hire new people from outside.

"For such reasons, you can say there's an excess of noodle makers in Mizuho. Some of them have to start working elsewhere, even though they can make soba and udon."

"So they can't work in their occupation despite having learned how to make noodles at great pains?"

Lisa is surprised by that, but that's only understandable since this might be a situation that's unthinkable for magicians. After all, you're basically guaranteed some kind of job as soon as you're able to use magic.

"Out in the countryside, many people can make udon and soba even without running a restaurant. Many people also possess mastery skills. Because of that, it was easy to headhunt them."

The old restaurants can hire newcomers instead of the noodle makers who left their store. And since those newcomers will receive lower wages as apprentices until they're fully-fledged noodle makers, the restaurants can keep their labor costs low. Therefore, both sides profit from it.

"I understood the reasoning behind it, but everyone sure is passionately learning how to make broth."

From Therese's point of view, it seems to be astonishing for Ina and the others to seriously study how to make soba and udon broth.

"Wouldn't it be just fine to eat out as soon as they open their restaurants?"

"That's the wrong approach, Therese."

"Why, Amalie?"

"Making noodles by hand will probably be difficult for us, but we can cover that part by boiling up dried noodles, so as long as we can make the broth for udon and soba, it'll please Vel-kun, don't you think? That boy has a strange fixation towards women being good at cooking over women dressing up nicely, doesn't he?"

"Certainly, Elise is very good at cooking."

"Therese, you're the worst at it among us."

"I can cook normally."

Being told by Amalie-san that she sucks the most at cooking, Therese objects in order to uphold her dignity.

"Your repertoire is too small. After coming here, I've also done my best to increase the number of dishes I can make. And yet, I'm still working hard at it since my repertoire is still lacking."

"Amalie, thou are very skilled at cooking, so I'm quite envious of thou."

"Well, I had a lot of time to practice it."

Back at her family's home, it'd have been troublesome in various ways, if the second daughter of a poor Knight House couldn't do any housework. She might have been married off into a family where she'd be required to cook at any time, and she had to at least help with the cooking for the harvest festivals for the residents.

She would get scolded by my mother, if her cooking skills had been bad, and the frequency of her cooking also increased when she married into the Knight Baumeister family. Under these circumstances, it was highly unlikely for her to not be able to learn cooking.

"But, isn't it strange to designate me as the worst at cooking? What about..." Therese's eyes shift towards Katia. "... Katia? She can only handle outdoor cooking, can't she?"

"And yet I still possess a bigger repertoire than you, Therese. I've been properly taking lessons from Amalie."

Katia was aware that she'd have a hard time with just her adventurer-styled outdoor cooking, and thus she regularly took cooking lessons from Amalie.

"Katia is a fast learner. Therese, you have to give it your all as well."

"Even if thou tell me that..."

"A woman won't stay young forever. Once you become older, it'll be cooking and similar skills that you'll need. If your cooking is delicious, a man will always come back to you."

"Putting it another way, hubby might not visit your place anymore if he thinks that you'll always serve him the same dishes, Therese."

Apparently pissed off at being told that she's no good at cooking, Katia goes along with Amalie's remark, thus landing a counterattack on Therese.

Her words infested Therese's mind, causing the worst prediction to surface in her mind. One where Wendelin wouldn't visit the elderly Therese anymore and instead spend a harmonious, happy family life with Elise and the others, condemning Therese to live out her old age by herself.

"That's bad! I have actually studied how to be a good empress! Thus, something like increasing my cooking repertoire should be an easy feat!" Therese rallies her motivation again.

In the meantime, the udon and soba cooking advanced at a good pace.

* * *

"It's best to leave the cooking to the professional chefs."

"It is my turn when it comes to securing the properties, yes? It is the first residence, but this is..."

"It's my own property."

The very first flawed property we visited was owned by the owner of the fon restaurant. He possesses another two of such flawed properties.

Originally it was a restaurant... a fon restaurant at that, I think, but as many years have already passed since its construction, it's in a terrible state.

"Umm, why did it degrade like this?"

"Well, I'd say this is also part of my family's fate." The shopkeeper begins to explain as if to answer Eru's question. "The restaurant's golden time was apparently during the time of my great-grandfather. Back then, I had only been born, but..."

His great-grandfather retired because of old age. He had four sons, and thus he told the four following:

"Only someone skilled will be allowed to inherit my restaurant! You guys are to compete over it!"

According to the fon restaurant owner, his great-grandfather, who was loaded thanks to his restaurants flourishing, had each of his four sons take charge of one of his restaurants, and made them compete against each other over his inheritance.

"Your great-grandfather was quite extreme, wasn't he?"

"No kidding..."

In the eyes of Elise as a noble, it seemed only natural to have the oldest son inherit the restaurants. It's because having the brothers fight over becoming the true successor could become a bad move quite capable of causing the downfall of the whole family.

Certainly, it makes you want to retort that this isn't a goddamn food manga.

"As a matter of fact, my great-grandfather himself also came to this district to set up a branch restaurant under the name of our family's restaurants."

The owner's restaurant seems to be an official branch restaurant that split off a long-standing, well-known fon restaurant. That means, his great-grandfather wouldn't have been able to let his children set up branch stores in other areas. After all, they'd have infringed on the areas of other branch stores run by pupils or family members.

A guild for fon restaurants doesn't exist, but unwritten rules similar to a guild system are apparently in place. However, as that reasoning doesn't work on other types of restaurants, many fon restaurants recently went bankrupt due to new noodle restaurants opening up around them, or had to change their menu to survive. Either way, it looks like all of them went through hard times.

"The four brothers competed fiercely. The ironic outcome of this contest was my grandfather, the youngest brother, winning in the end, but..."

As it seemed to have been a truly harsh fight, it didn't only result in the other three restaurants going bankrupt, but also in deeply lingering negative feelings. In short, the other three, former restaurant owners, who had to spend the rest of their lives doing other jobs while shackled down by debts, turned into evil spirits after their deaths who then possessed their former restaurants.

"The former owners... well, my granduncles to be precise... have been getting in the way of starting new businesses as evil spirits."

"I see. While alive they wanted to repay their debts to run their fon restaurants again at some point. Is that their regret?"

"Yes, it is just as you say, madam." The owner nods at Elise's guess.

"It's only fon, and yet it's all because of fon, huh?"

Eru also agrees as if having realized that restaurants can be quite tough as well.

"The reason for the low number of old, well-established restaurants can be found in things like these. I'll also join the group of bankrupt restaurants if I don't do my best..."

"For now we must secure properties."

Since it'll be impossible to start on any renovations as long as the buildings are haunted by evil spirits, we got to quickly get rid of the ghosts.

"But, Earl Baumeister-sama, the evil spirits of my granduncles are troublesome."

According to him, they're usually hiding, and won't start anything as long as the new owner doesn't start any renovations. Because of that, the fon restaurant owner had tried to rent out the objects for cheap many times over. But, as soon as the new occupants tried to begin preparing their business operations after feeling relieved over the rent being cheap, the evil spirits would always get in the way.

I think they're quite aware of the nastiness of their timing since they've managed restaurants themselves while alive.

"Dear, what are we going to do?"

"Ah, I think it'll be easy to exorcize them. They aren't as powerful as evil spirits, are they?"

"No, they aren't."

"Then it'll be a walk in the park. Elise, could you please deploy a 『Holy Barrier』, just in case?"

"Yes, of course."

Once Elise finishes casting a 『Holy Barrier』 to protect us, I begin to loudly shout towards the former restaurant.

"Whoa!? What a shitty, disgusting fon!! The restaurant went bankrupt because you served such a trash! It's also completely behind the times! The new restaurants are a lot tastier, so let's go there!"

Given that their restaurants went bankrupt after they lost in the competition, it should be fine as long as I insult them with such badmouthing.

Apparently having heard what I've said, an evil spirit, which doesn't look all that strong to me, shows up from within the building. It's the evil spirit of an elderly man.

"WhAt wAS tHaa———T! My fOn is———!?"

"Pew, disgusting trash, that's what it is!"

"I wILl KilL yOu———u!"

Buying into my provocation, the evil spirit clashes against Elise's 『Holy Barrier』. Since he's been weak to begin with, he weakens significantly from just that.

"You can also develop new dishes in the other world, can't you?"

Once I release a light 『Holy Light』 as finisher, the evil spirit disappears in no time. Compared to the evil spirits of noble mansions, this one wasn't a big deal, really.

"I pray that person might find their happiness in the next world." Elise offers a prayer to the spirit after it vanishes.

"So, how's this property?"

"It is an old building, but since it is made out of stone, it should work without any problems, yes. What are you going to do about the furniture and tools?"

"Even secondhand goods are fine. Let's go with saving as much money as possible."

"As you wish. I have an acquaintance who is dealing with second hand equipment of bankrupt restaurants, yes. I also have an acquaintance among interior designers, yes."

As expected of a real estate agent. Rinnenheim has several acquaintances in occupations related to his own business.

"Okay, let's quickly purify the other properties for the sake of getting them operational as soon as possible."

"Time is money, after all, yes."

"Hey, Vel..."

"What's up, Eru?"

Eru calls out to me while I'm coordinating things with Rinnenheim.

"Albeit being evil spirits, they're still the owner's relatives, so... shouldn't you be a bit more, hmm... considerate of his feelings...?"

That Eru brings up something awfully sensible. But, for me evil spirits are no more than hindrances. If they have such regrets over their restaurants that they'd become evil spirits, they should have put in more effort while still alive.

"I'm pretty sure that the owner is likewise happy over being able to celebrate their ascension to heaven after getting exorcized rather than being oddly considerate."

"Yes, I think it is just as you say, dear."

Elise has apparently taken my remark at face value. In reality, it's just a random excuse I made up...

"What do you think, owner?"

"Well... it's not like I met them often, and over the last decades up until now, they have also turned into bad debtors. I feel slight pity for them, but it's not like I'm that emotionally attached either..."

"Wha-!?"

"Erwin-sama, you are a kind man. The business world is a place where you have to catch a weasel asleep, yes. Even if it might concern his relatives... they have safely moved on to the next world. Let us forget about past matters and work hard at new business opportunities, yes."

"...Say, Vel."

"What is it, Eru?"

"Are you and Rinnenheim actually kindred spirits?"

"..."

I'm not as shady as he is!

But, I only shouted that in my mind since I couldn't voice it out in front of the man himself.

* * *

"Earl Baumeister-sama, the construction is proceeding well, but what is the plan behind this?"

After another week had passed, the development of new menus was continuing, the purchase of available property and the exorcism of several flawed properties had finished, the craftsmen organized by Rinnenheim were carrying out the reconstruction, and new cooking ware and other necessary items were brought in.

The first objective is to reach a state where we can open around ten restaurants at any time.

As Arterio-san couldn't grasp my aim, he asked for the purpose while the construction was advancing.

"You see, this district isn't actually that bad a location."

After all, it has residential areas and sections with many workshops at walkable distance.

"If the customers don't stop by, we just have to make them do so. For this reason, we're going to amass noodle restaurants in this area."

The idea follows the same concept as a ramen museum. The reason for researching new menus in order to serve all kinds of noodle dishes aims at being able to open only noodle restaurants in great quantities in one place.

"Only noodle restaurants, you say?"

"If this area is crowded with nothing but noodle restaurants, customers aiming for a rich variety of noodle dishes would visit this place, wouldn't they? Crafters working at the workshops would come here for lunch, and they might also bring their families along on their days off. That's because this location would be perfect. The only damper is the fact that the workshops and residential areas aren't right around the corner, but we'll compensate for it by flooding this area with restaurants instead."

In addition, it'd also be good if they sold other stuff like light meals, desserts, and confectionery. That would also make the restaurants attractive for dating and family outings. Also, if they also offer smaller noodle portions, people should be able to eat at several restaurants during one visit.

"So we're going to strengthen the area's appeal by concentrating the restaurants over here."

"Ooohh! What an amazing idea! As expected of you, Earl-sama!"

Somehow Arterio-san is praising me awfully much, but the idea itself is no more than a rip-off. But since there's no way I could explain that to him, I silently accept his praises.

"Since the restaurants will all be packed in one small area, the competition will become fiercer, right? As a result, we'll get failing restaurants to quickly pull out."

"Because of that, most properties will only be rented out, correct?"

Only the owner of the fon restaurant with his additional three properties, and Rosa-san own their property. The rest is owned by Rinnenheim who acquired the properties. Elise and I got paid by him for the exorcisms.

That guy got a keen nose for business, so he readily paid the fee for the purification and secured the properties for himself. The fon restaurant owner also paid us for the purifications, although I gave him a hefty discount.

His restaurant has been in dire straits for around one year now, but it looks like he'd saved up quite a bit of money as his restaurant made some good profits before that.

"Arterio-san... you'll make a good profit by selling ingredients, switching and opening new restaurants, and selling foodstuff to the stores entering this area, even if you leave some of it to the participating merchants. It'll be fine to sell desserts made out of Demon Forest fruits and chocolate. It's also possible to set up open-air cafes. And it'd be great for there to be shops around which introduce new products by running bargains and limited-time offers."

"Is Rinnenheim going to manage the rented properties?"

"Well, we'll have to expel failing restaurants. A thriving business with lots of customers will boost the rent for the leased properties. Rinnenheim, as the owner of the properties, will profit more from high rents, so he'll naturally have a vested interest in shutting down failing restaurants to maintain that profit. And since it's a nasty task, we have to bait him with some benefits."

All the rented properties in the district will be put under one umbrella, and Rinnenheim will be in charge of managing the umbrella group. The rent contracts will be set to last for around half a year, which is going to spur on the competition as failing restaurants won't have their contract extended. All in an attempt to keep a continuous renewal with fresh restaurants going.

It's been decided that Rinneheim will be in charge of the unpleasant task of enforcing the termination of the contracts, as the rent will likely rise in proportion, it'll allow him to make more of a profit out of it.

"If this place starts to flourish, it'll also become great publicity for the restaurants, who have a store in this area, once they open new branch stores. I think the restaurant owners will naturally put in more effort in maintaining that reputation, once they understand its value."

"I see, that does make sense."

"And, if this idea turns into a success over here... it'll be possible to start similar projects in other districts. I mean, the capital is a big city, right? As an additional advantage, the business owners will be able to obtain the necessary know-how over here, too."

"I guess such a method also exists, besides simply running restaurants."

In the past, my trading company has also been involved in managing such restaurant-based events and facilities, so I know what I'm talking about. This is also the reason why I could come up with such an idea. But, when it comes to the specific implementation of this whole idea, I've got no choice but to keep gathering actual business experience in addition to the knowledge I already possess.

"I shall hurry the preparations on my side then."

"Please do."

* * *

After I separated from Arterio-san, I headed over to the restaurant scheduled to be rented by Akira. He has leased two free locations which are situated next to each other. Currently he's in the middle of getting everything ready for the opening.

"Oh, Earl Baumeister-sama, the experimental menus are very promising."

"Still, you're going with two restaurants right off the bat?"

"I'm planning to offer different price ranges."

"What do you mean?"

According to him, he plans to equip one of the restaurants with a sophisticated interior design based on the Mizuho-style. Mizuho craftsmen are currently working on setting up everything.

"This here will be a restaurant serving the soba and udon dishes as a finisher."

He'll offer a menu course of Mizuho cooking with soba or udon being the last menu point. It'll raise the prices, but this restaurant will be mainly catered towards richer people.

"The other restaurant will be a regular soba & udon restaurant. It'll also offer a space where you can eat while standing."

The other restaurant has regular tables inside, a counter for eating while standing at the entrance area, and an outside space with tables and chairs in front. Shelves for putting away the used plates and cutlery have been set up as well. It's completely like one of those soba stalls where I ate out in my previous life. Or rather, I've also seen such soba stalls in Mizuho.

"There's plenty of such stalls in areas with lots of crafting workshops, but customers from foreign areas don't really eat over there. This restaurant is targeting the workers of the nearby workshops."

As they're usually busy, they'd want to eat their meals quickly. The reason why fon was so popular in the past stems from the possibility to eat it quickly on the fly. For a stall, soba and udon are slightly expensive, but business has drastically improved in the capital. Akira is apparently counting on a certain number of customers with this.

"It sure looks like everything is going smoothly over here."

"Yes, if we succeed after having opened these two restaurants, we'll set up a lot more stores. It'll be a harsh competition, but it also comes with a big chance since the number of customers will grow."

Because Akira seemed busy, I cut the conversation short, and headed over to Rosa-san's restaurant next.

"Earl Baumeister-sama, it sounds like my husband is making good progress on the new menu."

"It was quite a challenge though..."

Most of the noodle recipes I told Betty's brother about revolved around ramen dishes. Ramen heavily depends on how you make the broth.

In the past I played around with it as well, but in the end I couldn't quite achieve the ramen broth taste I wanted to eat. Since I couldn't get my hands on pork belly and bones, I substituted it with wild boar bones, but during the preliminary processing it stank, and even after I added pot herbs and boiled it down, it still stank. And when I finally had gotten rid of the smell, the taste had become too thin. After failing on it several times, I gave up in the end.

Seeing how he somehow managed to make a proper dish out of my instructions, I gotta admit that genuine cooks are in a class of their own. Betty's brother might be a great chef as long as he stays out of the management.

"Please have a taste."

Once Rosa-san guided me into the kitchen, I noticed that Betty's brother was making soup in a huge cylindrical container while being watched by Betty and the other two girls.

"How is it going?"

"Earl Baumeister-sama, the taste has finally stabilized." He hands me a small plate of the broth he's been cooking.

When I taste it, it has a very nice flavor. Back then my own creation was a total failure as it smelled oddly and had a thin flavor.

"You have to properly handle the preparatory processing. I procured the bones of pigs and other monsters, and boiled them down together with vegetables and smell-erasing herbs."

"You could buy pig bones?"

Livestock is usually eaten only by fairly rich people. I don't think that getting your hands on pork bones is that easy, but...

"If it's small amounts of pig bones, they're available at a reasonable price. However you have to procure them immediately after the butchering. Since the amount of procurable stock is flaky, I've stabilized the taste by adding boar and monster bones which are easy to get. In addition, there will be a difference in flavor of the broth from the bones depending on where the animals grew up, the area they were hunted, and the season."

The challenging part of ramen is the changing state of the used ingredients, even if you might have come up with a perfect recipe, so the broth won't keep having the same taste unless you adjust it frequently. When a shift in taste occurs, it's fine if it tends towards the ramen becoming tastier, but if the flavor deteriorates, the customers will leave.

At any rate, Betty's brother is a lot better than I thought, isn't he? My first impression of him wasn't that good, but he's apparently the type of guy who can do it if he tries, when it comes to cooking. I got to revise my evaluation of him.

"You're really excellent as long as your wife holds the reins!"

"Earl Baumeister-sama, that's not really..."

"Brother has finally become a decent person under Rosa-san's wings."

"Even you're so terrible, Betty..."

Getting harshly talked down by his own sister, Betty's brother drops his shoulders in disappointment.

"It's a broth combining the bones of pigs, boars, and monsters."

And yet, he rallies his spirits back up, continuing the explanation of the broth. Its appearance and taste resembles the ramen broth I know of, so it's very welcome to me.

"If you add soy-based sauce to this..."

A soy-pork-flavored ramen is the standard of standards, but exactly because of that, it enjoys a high popularity. Given that it's an aroma I smell for the first time in this world, I feel like wanting to add the noodles as quickly as possible.

"What about the meat that will be added?"

"This is also something I've come up with after referencing your hints, Earl Baumeister-sama."

Given that boar meat is often used for stew, roasted pork filet is easier to handle than the broth. Betty's brother is also capable of making a tasty one.

"Boiled eggs and such are slightly expensive. This is only a trial dish. All that's left is to boil the vegetables suitably and put them in."

As for eggs: guinea fowls are expensive, and even the chicken eggs available at poultry farms aren't that much cheaper. Accordingly I had him play around with the eggs of other birds like ducks, but he probably won't serve them for customers since it'd drive the price too much.

Eggs being as cheap as in Japan for example is in reality amazing.

Bamboo shoots are only available in Mizuho as an ingredient, so they won't enter his ramen either. Because Mizuho people love their bamboo shoots, the amount they export is quite low.

"I prepared everything as you told me, but in the end, the noodles are still a problem. I don't quite think that this will fit well with pasta, and I don't have any experience in noodle making."

Even the noodles sold at Rosa-san's restaurant appear to be procured from acquainted noodle makers.

"That fon restaurant is going to come in handy here. Let's go there to get some noodles."

I had planned to leave it to some other cook if he had failed, but Betty's brother splendidly passed the trial of making ramen. Now, if you enter boiled noodles into this, the ramen will be done.

"Sensei, my brother has properly done his job, hasn't he?"

"I might have underestimated him a bit. He's got good skills."

Or rather, he might be good at trying out new dishes since he's still young. Since he's got Rosa-san at his side as well, he might succeed with a ramen restaurant as long as he maintains the broth's flavor.

"Thank you very much, sensei. My late mother and father will be able to rest in peace as well, I think."

Usually she's quite strict with him, but Betty doesn't hate her brother. She thanks me after grabbing my hands, as the one who had helped him out.

"Aaaah! How sneaky of you, Betty! Me too!"

For some reason Cindy grabs my arm while criticizing Betty. With Betty on my right arm, Cindy joins in by securing my left arm for herself.

"Sensei doesn't have more than two arms... both of you are so unfair!"

Agnes, who's supposed to be serious under normal circumstances, gets angry at the other two who got a headstart on her.

"U—um, then I'll take this place!"

"Hey!!"

Using that as an excuse, Cindy skilfully gets on top of my left shoulder with a nicely controlled 『Flight』. I grab her legs in a fluster, resulting in it looking like I'm giving her a shoulder ride. And then Agnes grabs onto my left arm which has been freed up by Cindy.

In the end I was stuck walking the streets while surrounded by my three pupils.

"Hoh, that's quite bold of you to put on such a show during your wives' absence."

"Hey, Eru! Don't yap anything that could invite misunderstandings!"

I complain at him, who's looking at me with a grin.

After all, I'd be in trouble if wrong information were to reach Elise and the others.

"Uuhh... for my Betty to have grown into a young lady who's going to become a wife..."

"Since Betty-chan was going to marry someday as well, you don't need to cry like a little boy. She'll be okay since we're talking about Earl Baumeister-sama here."

Look what you've done, Eru! Haven't Rosa-san and her husband completely misunderstood the situation!?

"Now that it's reached this point, I doubt that these girls are going to marry anyone else, though. What are your thoughts on it, Earl Baumeister-sama?"

"Guh!"

I've been feeling like my paths of retreat are gradually being cut off, but for now I'm escaping from reality by putting priority on my fake consulting job.

* * *

"Earl Baumeister-sama... it makes me so jealous to see you surrounded by so many beautiful women... err, sorry, that's not it! The trial noodles are proceeding well."

As a matter of fact, I've entrusted the owner of the fon restaurant with the ramen noodles. He has five sons who have been making the noodles used for fon every day by hand. All of them are quite skilled at it.

Accordingly I advised the owner to also handle the management of the noodle making place that's going to sell noodles to the noodle restaurants that are going to be run in this area in order to consolidate, and thus stabilize, the administration.

"Wouldn't you be able to focus on other things if you got them to make the noodles go well with the broth and ingredients? You can also make detailed orders then."

In other words, optimize the work.

It might be more expensive than making the noodles themselves, but the making itself requires time, and if there's many customers, it's possible that they'd run out of time to prepare the ingredients. But, if there's a noodle making place in the same area, they could immediately place additional orders if they run short on noodles.

"I think it's a great idea, but is the noodle quality going to be alright?"

"We have been making fon noodles every day. We can easily cover the basics, and we're also researching pasta and other noodle types to become able to make them as well. My sons and I are in the middle of improving our skills through special training."

They're currently also taking lessons from a cook, who can make udon and soba, Akira has referred to them. If soba and udon prove to be popular, Arterio-san and I plan to run stalls as well. Even the noodles used by those stalls are scheduled to be provided by the noodle makers here.

"Of course I also plan to improve my fon and serve it."

In addition, he intends to serve several other noodle dishes. The idea is to bring the balance in the black by also increasing the income with the noodle making as side business.

Even the three stores I purified of evil spirits are going to operate as fon restaurants and noodle making kitchens. According to the owner, he plans to split up his sons and deploy them to his other restaurants.

"We came to fetch the noodles we ordered."

"Of course. You can find them over here."

Since they're ramen noodles, they require lye water, but no matter where we looked, we couldn't find any. I also asked Akira, but he said that Mizuho doesn't use lye water either.

Although it's not intended as a substitute for it, a noodle making area, which used wood ashes water, had been set up in the new territory of Mizuho. Given that the trees used for the wood ash exist in the Kingdom as well, I asked the owner to make the ramen noodles after making wood ashes water out those trees.

The noodles are medium thick, and they're less yellow than usual, making them resemble the soba noodles of Okinawa.

Sooner or later, I'd like to start making lye water. I outsourced this task to Arterio-san after telling him everything I know about lye water, but I think if anyone, he'll be able to somehow handle it.

"You boil these noodles, and put them into the mix out of your broth and soy sauce. Once you place the garnish on top of the noodles, the dish is done."

We hurry back to Betty's brother's restaurant, and finally complete the pseudo ramen. I sample it right away as the very first, just to find it tasting almost identically to the ramen I ate in my previous life. If I had tried to make it myself, I'd have very likely failed on many accounts.

"Hoh, I see. You let the noodles swim in the broth. It's different from pasta. It'll become a good reference."

Even the fon restaurant owner, who made the noodles, looked very pleased after sampling the ramen.

"When you knead eggs into the noodles or add eggs as garnish, it'll boost the taste even further."

"Earl Baumeister-sama, the dish would become too expensive then."

Eggs obtained from raised chickens or ducks are very costly, and they're hard to get by since the rich eat them usually. Occasionally adventurers find them during hunts, and sell them off for some extra income, but many simply eat them, which is one of many special privileges of adventurers.

Since the cost for a ramen dish would double if it used eggs, it won't be served at restaurants. But, I'll try to enjoy the ramen in private by adding boiled eggs to it. As Earl Baumeister I've got enough money to freely eat eggs as I like.

Since my younger days, I was told by my father that I was an expert at finding eggs.

"Sensei, this noodle dish is wonderful. What are we going to do about its name?"

"Let's go with 'ramen'."

"Ramen? It's simple, but I feel like it fits... Brother, well done. This should become a hit."

"Uuuhh... at long last I got praised by my little sister... since I've still got some time, I'll work on improving it some more!"

Betty's brother shed tears after finally getting praised by her.

I think he's been doing his best most recently, but since his sister believed that he'd become a slacker if she didn't pay attention, she was very frugal with praise so far.

"I'll also work on improving my fon, and I'm in the middle of inventing other noodle dishes."

"The opening will take place in three days. Please proceed diligently with the preparations."

* * *

Three days later.

The establishment... though it's not really an establishment to be precise... the concentration noodle restaurants in one district has been opened.

Right now, it's just before noon. Thanks to us having advertised the opening in advance, the workers, who plan to eat lunch in this district, and families enjoying their holidays are swarming the place.

"Just as you have told me, Earl Baumeister-sama, I have distributed the flyers all over the place."

I've told Arterio-san to create a handout, which would tell people the location of the restaurants on a map and what noodles they can eat for what prices, and distribute it in the neighborhood. After all, we'd be troubled if no customers were to come in the beginning.

We've also put up notice boards with the same information all around the district.

Being lured in by those two measures, many customers are visiting the restaurants.

"Mizuho udon and soba? I think I'll go with this since it's kinda unusual."

"Over here they've also got a noodle dish with soup, called ramen or something like that."

Akira has opened his udon and soba restaurants, Rosa-san is serving the ramen Betty's brother completed at her store while having left the pasta restaurant to her subordinates. In addition, a cafe serving sweets out of Demon Forest fruits with tea and chocolate, and a food court serving yakitori, fried food, sandwiches, hamburgers, potatoes and other things have opened up.

Arterio-san had a merchant under his umbrella open a shop based on his keen insight.

The main attraction are the noodle restaurants, but since people won't get bored when restaurants serving other foodstuff are around as well, I think it's okay to go ahead like this.

"And then we have the all-important fon restaurant, but..."

"Vel-sama, is it going to be alright?"

"They have too many irons in the fire with the noodle making place, and thus it looks like they're already hard pressed with just making noodles..."

Because of the big number of customers, the owner is making noodles in preparation for additional orders. The unusual ramen store has lots of customers, and it seems like they'll run out of noodles soon.

During the reconstruction, they had built a noodle-making space at the glass-sided restaurant front, allowing people to watch the owner make the noodles from outside.

Drawn in by that performance, many customers also end up entering the fon restaurant.

"People are flooding in, attracted by the practical skill of a noodle-making master. It's not just the taste of the dishes that matters."

"You're truly serious about everything related to cooking, aren't you?"

"Of course. People will die if they don't eat any food. It's much more worthwhile to invest time and effort into this than socializing with retarded nobles."

"You could ease Roderich-san's burden with that though..."

Increasing the number of customers by performing a live cooking show was a common method in my previous life. Even in the other stores of the owner, his sons were showcasing their skills which they had learned from their father.

"With that said, you can feel relieved since the fon restaurant won't go bankrupt, Wilma."

"Thanks, Vel-sama."

At long last, Wilma shows me a broad, happy smile. Usually she doesn't really ask for favors, but she has a strong sense of duty towards those who took care of her in the past.

"How did you improve the fon dishes?"

"Well, I left that part to the owner as a professional in his trade... I guess we should go and take a look."

"Time to sample the food."

Considering that today would be packed with many customers, only Eru and Wilma accompany me. Once the three of us enter the fon restaurant, an employee immediately shows up to take our order.

"What would you like to order?"

"Let's see..."

When I look at the menu, the prices have gone up significantly. The dishes have the cliched name of 『New Fon』, but the biggest change are the three flavors you can choose. In addition to the traditional salt flavor, he's also added soy sauce and miso.

"I'll take soy sauce."

"I'll go with miso then."

"Salty for me."

"Wilma, your choice is rather conventional."

"Fon is basically all about salty flavor. I can't feel relieved if he hasn't improved that one properly."

"I see."

"That makes sense."

As Eru and I agree with Wilma's view, our ordered fon is being served.

"It's looking quite delicious now."

My fon has been arranged in a way closely resembling oily soba. It uses thick noodles and the amount has also increased to a regular serving. Once I stir and try to eat it, I discover that the noodles have been boiled in ramen broth, before having soy sauce added to them. The garnishes are chopped potherbs, boiled veggies, and cubed boar meat.

"It's really tasty."

"Yep, no kidding."

I like oily soba, so this counts as a nice improvement for me. Even if he might have worried, this shows that the owner is a professional. He's reached oily soba by himself while referencing ramen.

"Wilma, how's the salty flavor?"

"Good. It's been improved properly. Vel-sama, aa~hh."

I'm suddenly being fed, but since we're married, it's no problem.

"So far as it goes, you're in public, just so you know."

"We're married. Eru, every day when you get back home, you also have Haruka..."

"Stop! That's out of limits!"

So you have Haruka do this for you every day, eh...?

I think it's wonderful for a married couple to be on good terms, but it appears he doesn't want others to hear about such things...

"It's quite good."

It uses almost the same garnishes, but has a salty flavor and doesn't have the same broth as my fon. The owner probably wanted to preserve the salty flavor by all means. I can clearly tell the improved outcome from him having struggled.

"How is it, Earl Baumeister-sama?"

"It's become very delicious."

If it's like this, I feel like occasionally coming here to eat fon. After all, I have a craving for oily soba every once in a while. Until now I've forgotten about that dish, this fon has reminded me of my urge to eat it.

Fortunately, I've got my 『Teleport』, so I've got no issue with the distance to the capital.

"Are you still worried about something?"

I notice how the owner is pulling a somewhat long face.

"The salty, new fon is reasonably popular, but in the end, it loses out to the soy sauce and miso fons. I'm a traditional person, so I always believe that fon ought to be salty."

Since it's a business, he's serving the other two fons to make sales, but I guess he still wants the salty fon to be his main dish.

"It's not like I don't have any ideas, but..."

"Really?"

"I guess we'll try to make it as a test."

As soon as we move to the restaurant's kitchen, I take out a certain item out of my magic bag. It's the small smoker I used to make smoked fish way, way back in the past, and the chips necessary to use it.

I haven't really used it ever since forming a party, but since I had time in my loner period, I occasionally smoked meat and fish.

"Are you going to smoke it?"

"Yep, I'll add an aroma to the salt, and create a salt sauce with the smoked salt."

Smoked salt can be prepared in advance to a certain extent. The wood chips aren't overly expensive either, so it likely won't be necessary to raise the price for the fon with this.

"Aroma also plays a role for the taste. Today I've only got walnut wood chips on me, but you could also import cherry wood chips from Mizuho. But, I guess that'd become expensive... right, there's another option."

A small dose of concentrated soup, seasonings, and oil have become the ingredients for the new fon broth.

"When it comes to keeping the salty flavor, you should improve the oil, I'd say."

You create a fragrant oil by using all kinds of raw materials, and if you use this oil, the taste of the new fon should become variegated. I smoke the salt, create a fake chili oil with small river prawn I had with me, and chili pepper I imported from Mizuho, and make the new salty fon with these.

"It'll allow you to adjust the bitterness to your liking with a salty prawn flavor."

"Oohh! It's incredibly delicious!"

"Earl Baumeister-sama, what a splendid idea! You have outstanding talent!"

Eru and the owner praise my idea highly, but seeing how it's just a rip-off and nothing I came up with myself, that praise pains me a bit. But, it's all for the sake of recovering my noodle-based life, so it's a necessary sacrifice.

"Vel-sama, tasty."

"Given that the improvement comes from an amateur like me, I'm sure that the owner will be able to make it a lot more delicious as a professional."

"The recent events made me reconsider many things. One of them is the necessity to constantly research new dishes..."

Humans easily get used to things, so they'll quickly tire if you serve them the same dishes over and over again. Some people would object at this point, asking why old, well-established restaurants can keep existing in such a case, but it's just the customers who believe that their food remains always the same. In reality, it's common sense to improve the taste bit-by-bit.

Actually, it was a surprise for me that the fon restaurant kept thriving until just recently while continuing to serve the same dishes year in, year out.

"Even if you maintain the same menu, it's indispensable to improve the taste through fine adjustments."

"You're absolutely right. This has been a good lesson for me. 'Because it's fon, it's cheap and simple' is a nice way of thinking, but that doesn't mean it can taste awful. I'm very sorry for relying on you after offering you such a cheap menu."

The owner began to also sell yakisoba at the four restaurants he had left to his sons, his fon restaurant, and in front of his restaurant. Because the noodles didn't cost much as they were homemade, he could sell the yakisoba for two cents as long as he lowered the portion size a bit.

This is why it became an affordable snack for the masses. The employees would roast the yakisoba on iron plates, drawing the people over with the fragrant aroma.

"I cannot lose out either."

Akira also started to sell fried udon in front of his restaurants. He looks like a beautiful girl, but it'd be no exaggeration to call him a prodigy when it comes to business. He's more manly than any other guy in regards to his ability to take action.

"Including the capital, the Kingdom has many areas with very mild temperatures. Serving chilled udon and soba will let the sales soar."

Apparently Akira plans to establish branch soba restaurants all over the Kingdom. For this very reason, he was very motivated because he couldn't afford for his first restaurant of this kind to fail.

"Akira-san, was it? That person is a man, isn't he?"

"He does have a wife, though it's unbelievable for him to actually be older than me."

"It looks like my son didn't believe so either..."

According to the fon restaurant owner, one of his sons fell in love with Akira at first sight when they were preparing the opening together, but was immediately shot down when he offered his hand in marriage.

"What about your son?"

"It appears he suffered a heavy shock, but using it as a driving force for a rebound, he's been investing all his effort into his work." The owner tells me while very busy with noodle making and cooking his new fon.

"But you know, isn't that just a backlash from him having a broken heart?"

"It's no broken heart, okay?"

"No, I mean it looks like he didn't even clear the first hurdle for a romance..."

"It's no broken heart. Aren't you misunderstanding?"

"Eru, Wilma, let's just say it was unrequited love."

Many customers crowded the renovated noodle restaurants ever since the opening day, and gradually the number of frequent customers grew, resulting in the whole district prospering. Once the number of customers grew, the number of new noodle restaurants and other eateries aiming at them increased as well, leading to an even bigger number of customers being drawn over.

Just as I had predicted, the district, which had been somewhat desolate before all of this, would prosper as 『Noodle Street』, attracting many, many customers even in the future. And spurred on by that, this kind of system, or rather, district spread to not only various areas of the Kingdom, but also cities of the Empire.

* * *

"Boooo! I wanted to go as well!"

"Sorry, sorry, the place was crowded, so it was best to act in a small group of people. I mean, Wilma would have been worried about the fon restaurant otherwise."

When we returned to the mansion after finishing our inspection, Luise greeted us with a sullen expression since she had to stay back home.

"Luise, stop pouting like a kid. Wendelin ought to have prepared at least some kind of souvenir for thou."

"As far as new noodle dishes are concerned, I got several. Amalie-san, have you completed 'that'?"

"I've made it as you told me. Using a somewhat bigger amount of ingredients. But, can stew become a noodle dish?"

"Well, it still needs a little quirk."

I had decided to treat my wives and lovers to new noodle dishes which would also serve as dinner. If these dishes kept getting served at the restaurants in the capital, they should also lead to more customers for them.

"How is it?"

"As delicious as usual."

Amalie-san had been regularly cooking since marrying into the Knight Baumeister House. Though it was taboo to mention that we were so poor that she wouldn't have been able to live with us otherwise.

"It's just right."

"I think around this much should do, since I was told that the taste is a bit strong. But, making stew with so many ingredients would have been unthinkable in the past, wouldn't it?"

"Well, sometimes we had plenty of veggies though. It was simply more efficient to grill meat or make other dishes with it."

"Mother-in-law often said, 『Our family is much more delighted over grilled meat than putting plenty of meat into stew』."

"It's because it was the best way to highlight the limited amount of meat we had."

"The family was big as well."

Unconsciously I've started to nostalgically recall the past with Amalie-san, but during my time back at the Knight Baumeister House, even a thick taste was already an extravagance. In this mansion only Amalie-san and I might know about the uniqueness of my past family's home. In a certain sense, both of us are comrades-in-arms.

"But, what kind of noodle dish are you going to make out of this?"

"I'll explain while preparing it. Elise, could you please boil these until they become firm?"

"What a peculiar pasta."

Even for Elise, who cooks often, it seems to be her first encounter with lasagne. In Japan, lasagne is a pasta used in a dish with the same name.

When I told the fon restaurant's owner how to make it, he immediately prepared it for me. On Earth it was common to go with dried noodles, but over here it's normal to use fresh noodles, which is the reason why I consider pasta to be very delicious in this world.

It's the pasta that's used for soba, and it's very delicious, too. However, back in the past we didn't do such tasteful cooking.

"Dear, they're done."

"Thanks, Elise."

I pour the stew into a heat-resistant container, and add the firm, boiled lasagne. I sprinkle it all with cheese and put the mold into the oven. As soon as the baking is done, I garnish it with chopped parsley, completing the dish.

"This is a noodle dish as well?"

"If you define noodles as kneaded flour after having water added to it, then yes." Elise answers Luise's question.

The cheese is bubbling lightly after getting heated up in the baked, lasagne-styled, new dish. Cheese is a luxury as well, but I believe that melted cheese has a taste loved by many people.

"It sure looks delicious. How about we enjoy the food before it becomes cold?"

Following Therese's advice, we all eat lasagne for dinner. The taste is based on beef stew, and since I've prepared it like gratin, or rather, lasagne, it was unthinkable for it to taste bad. The melted cheese was wonderful too, meaning it should be fine to serve this as a new menu item.

"This food might be even more delicious if thou eat it in the northern Philip Dukedom."

"Makes sense seeing how it's a warm dish."

"Still, good job on coming up with such a recipe."

"Ha ha ha, I also prepared other noodle dishes."

Next I fried pasta in oil after sprinkling it with salt, and did the same for soba. This is something I ate as a side menu when eating out in a soba restaurant in my previous life. Both can be sold at the storefront as light snacks.

"Next up is a cold noodle dish."

Cold pasta, or cooled soba and udon might be even more demanded, as long as you can secure a refrigerator or ice machine, because of the Kingdom's relatively warm climate.

"You came up with so many ideas that I must take my hat off."

"You can count on me, Luise."

"But, just one little thing: If you forget your main job as Earl Baumeister-sama, you'll get scolded by Roderich-san."

"That side is alright since I've properly filed for a holiday with him."

Given that I've recently given my undivided attention to construction work to speed up territorial development, it's alright to occasionally do some other work like this here. Though I guess it's more like a hobby than work.

I've started all of this because Wilma asked me to, but I think it's become a good way to relieve some of my stress.

"And then we have dessert."

After sampling various noodle dishes, I serve buckwheat dumplings as dessert at the end. This is something I really liked when eating it at a soba restaurant in my previous life, so I recreated it.

It also has the huge advantage of being quickly done by just kneading buckwheat flour with hot water. You can eat it right after applying brown sugar syrup and roasted soybean flour, and it's also delicious if you put it into sweet red bean soup or some such.

"It's delicious. It has a refreshing sweetness that differs from the sweets in the Kingdom."

The oldest among my women, Lisa, has apparently found a liking to the dumplings, eating them happily.

"If these new dishes continue being sold, that district should flourish."

And Akira as well Betty's brother are going to make a profit by serving these dishes at their restaurants while receiving Arterio-san's, as a whole-seller of ingredients, and my assistance. Those profits are then going to be returned to the Earl Baumeister House as well. It's nothing major when you look at it financially, but it should improve our reputation.

"A truly smart advertisement."

"Hoh, I see... that is wonderful to hear, Milord."

Turning around since I suddenly heard a familiar voice, I found Roderich standing there with a bitter face.

"Roderich?"

"Milord, I certainly gave my permission for you to concentrate on the development of dishes for a new restaurant. But, that holiday originally lasted for three days. With you frequenting the capital for close to two weeks now, development is not proceeding as planned. In the first place, how did supporting a single restaurant turn into something as extensive as a large-scaled business project?"

Because of all the fun I had, I ended up devoting two weeks to work related to the new noodle dishes. Logically, Roderich complained to me about not having heard anything about extending the holiday to such an extent.

"Well... didn't everyone put in great efforts in my stead.?"

Katharina, Therese, Lisa, and Agnes's gang should have been more than plenty as a replacement for me since they improved their magical skill thanks to my special training.

"Of course the construction has been advancing thanks to Miladies' efforts. However, the large construction work that can only be handled by you, Milord, has stalled."

"I see... I'll do my best starting tomorrow then."

"Starting tomorrow? I understand. Considering this ten days delay, you will not have any holidays for quite some time, Milord."

"No way!"

Even though I had finally escaped that blasted salaryman life full of overtime... At this rate, I don't even know why I've become a noble... Don't nobles usually spend their time in a much more refined manner?

"Are the plans really falling behind so much? Just how much do you think I accelerated the construction work until now?"

"Milord, can you not consider it like this: Even if you work ahead, you still have some leeway. That means, you will be fine even if you accelerate the work even further. Do you not believe that would be the very meaning of following the original plan? Your mana is still growing. Therefore, it is still alright." Roderich answers me with a face full of confidence.

Or rather, why are you brimming with confidence anyway? The one doing all the construction is me, not you!

"But, I feel like I want to go eat noodles in the capital every once in a while. I also want to invite Elise and the others and go on dates..."

"I would like you to limit your happy times with your wives to Baulburg and the mansion. The mana required by 『Teleport』 is a significant amount."

"Damn it! I'll kick the bum of Betty's brother, and have him open a ramen shop in Baulburg!"

Because I performed my phony consulting work in the capital for two weeks, I was stuck working full-time on the development of my territory for a while. And yet, I still think that it was a good thing as noodle dishes started to appear at my meals.

Because I occasionally treated the workers at the construction site to simple noodle dishes, some of them started noodle restaurants in their residential area or birthplaces, resulting in noodle dishes propagating even further within the Kingdom, but that is a story for another time.

Extra: Even in a Different World, People Think Up similar Dishes (with the Maids)

"Sorry for having kept you waiting, Earl Baumeister. And, just as I expected, you are here as well... Mrs. Wilma!"

"I have heard that today they're going to serve extra-large servings, going beyond the usual large portions. I wouldn't act myself if I didn't participate in this."

"Indeed... I can see where you are coming from."

"It's a precious outing with Wendelin-san, and yet I feel like I'm totally wrong here..."

"Katharina-sama, the same applies to us as well."

"Really? Dominique-neesan, this is what you'd normally call market research though."

Our master is a great man who's very obsessive when it comes to delicious food. Recently his work to develop the territory has increased manifold after he got scolded by Roderich-sama for focusing too much on his pet noodle-dish production, but even that is nothing that would stop our master from continuing.

He's working harder than anyone in the territory, even adapting to the repeated increases of his assignments by Roderich-sama. For him to take the initiative to work on many things is just what you'd expect from our master. I'm sure he's doing all of it in consideration of our lives here.

* * *

Finally, after quite a while, our master was allowed to take a day off, and thus it was decided for us to visit the noodle area he'd created himself in the capital the other day.

Our travel party consisted of Doushi-sama, who doesn't resemble Elise-sama at all despite being her uncle... though I kept this to myself since it'd earn me Dominique-neesan's fist if I voiced it out... Wilma-sama, the number one glutton in the Earl Baumeister, Katharina-sama for some reason... though it'd be pitiful for her if I mentioned that her presence has been rather negligible as of late, so I kept it to myself... and Dominique-neesan as well as me for some kind of reason. In short, a very weird lineup.

What's master planning by forming such a group?

"Ohh! Don't tell me, Master is...!"

Does master lust after me, who's become Erwin-sama's fiancée just recently, and Dominique-neesan who's a married woman with child?

"Humph!"

"Ouch, that huuurts..."

Dominique-neesan, I haven't even said anything yet, have I...?

"It's so obvious what is going on in that bird brain of yours. Us being allowed to accompany Master is because he wants us to give an objective assessment of the new noodle dishes."

"Wouldn't his wives be just as fine then?"

"He said that their assessment might be too lenient since they often tried new food together with him."

I see... so that's why Katharina-sama is with us today.

"Humph!"

"Ouch, that huuurts..."

Even though I haven't even opened my mouth... I'd really, really love for her to stop reading my mind and hit my head.

"Lea-san, you sure have it hard..."

See! Now Katharina-sama is mistaking you for a violent brute, Dominique-neesan!

"It is my duty to properly discipline unruly subordinates."

"Is that so...?"

Dominique-neesan, even if you phrase it like that, isn't it obvious from Katharina-sama's expression that she doesn't understand a thing of what you've said!?

Dominique-neesan clears her throat, and asks, "Master, about today's objective..."

Yep, she's clearly covering up her own blunder, isn't she...?

"The area, where I have gathered many noodle restaurants, has been a big success. It looks like a new restaurant is going to be opened among them. Rosa-san has asked us to show up because they’re going to run a food sampling event for all those concerned with the restaurant."

Speaking of Rosa-san, she's Betty-san's sister-in-law, right? Betty-san is going to become master's wife in due time, so master readily accepted the request of his future sister-in-law.

"Master, is it going to be a new noodle dish?"

"It seems to be a noodle dish with huge portions, and since it's not like I'd get any proper impressions from Wilma and Doushi, I'll have you, Dominique, and Katharina sample the food as well."

Certainly, if you take Wilma-sama and Doushi-sama's 『insufficient』 at word, it might ultimately result in something outrageous.

"Because of that, I'd like you two, Dominique and Lea, to be frank about your impressions. Just saying it's 『delicious』 won't serve as much of a reference."

"Wendelin-san, are the portions going to be big?"

"That's what I've heard."

"So they're going to be big, huh...? That's fine, but..."

Katharina-sama has started to diet after giving birth, but I think today's outing might bring all the effects from that to naught. On the other hand, she didn't want to lose the chance to eat out with her husband.

She's definitely praiseworthy, that Katharina-sama.

"Earl Baumeister, where is that restaurant?"

It sounds like Doushi-sama wants to eat the new noodle dish as soon as possible.

"Umm... according to the map, it should be around here."

With the help of the map which master had received in advance, we arrived in front of the restaurant in question. In the past it had been a small restaurant, but then got closed after the owner died all of a sudden. I hear that his son, a former adventurer, came into play at that point, succeeding the restaurant.

The reason for his opening to fall behind the others lay in the time it took to develop a proper menu. Maybe it was master's influence that caused the son to come up with a decent menu and being unwilling to simply take over his father's business just like that?

"A former adventurer, huh? That is a common occurrence."

"Is that so, Doushi-sama?"

I guess that's yet another flag in one's second life.

"Yep, it is often called a 『Business Rule of Adventurers』!"

"That's not always meant in a positive way, is it?"

"Thinking they have some leeway because they got the money, they recklessly start a business, just to go bankrupt in little to no time!"

Okay, just as I thought, it's a bad idea to start a job you're not used to without considering all the consequences and future implications. When failing, they lose all the money they saved up during their adventurer time.

"But, 『Business Rule of Adventurers』 also has another, hidden meaning!"

"A hidden meaning, you say?"

"Indeed. Some people in this world have too much time on their hands. They investigated the success rate in starting new businesses for adventurers and everyone else."

"And they weren't all that different or something like that?"

"You are very correct there, Ms. Lea!"

It might be easy to have the prejudice that adventurers are going to fail in a business because it's outside their field of expertise. But in reality, many people fail at businesses, regardless of whether they've been adventurers before or not.

"Some people will succeed at anything they do, others will fail at everything they touch!"

""""...""""

Whoaa, Doushi-sama is very blunt. Even master has drawn back from his plain, blatant comment!

"You're too outspoken."

Really, it's just as Katharina-sama says.

"I am just praying that today's restaurant is not the same!"

Just when I start thinking that Doushi-sama surely runs his mouth as he pleases despite being about to sample the food, a waitress... wait, that's a waitress?"

"——Earl Baumeister-samaaa! Over hereee~!"

I was startled there for a moment, but since it looks like it’s master's acquaintance, it's no problem.

Candy-san has been waving a hand just like a maiden.

"Lea, who is this person?"

"Ah, I suppose you don't know him yet, Dominique-neesan. He's called Candy-san."

Since I've frequently visited Akira's stores on errands for Dominique-neesan, I've befriended Candy-san who's been working there for a while after the opening. At first I was surprised by his appearance, but once I tried to talk to him, I realized that he was a very nice person and a maiden.

"It's been a long time, Candy-san."

"Oh my, it looks like you're doing just fine, Lea-chan."

"Lea?"

"I'm a friend of Candy-san. Or rather, the same can be said about Elise-sama too."

"I see..."

It's because Dominique-neesan is so damn serious. She'll probably need some time until she'll grow accustomed to a person like Candy-san.

"Lea, you're quite amazing."

"Eh? Am I?"

I mean, Candy-san is fun to talk to because he knows so much about clothes and sweets.

"Oh, I see that Elise-chan hasn't come today. How regrettable."

"Elise-sama is trying to take care of Friedrich-sama by herself as much as possible."

"Well, she is his mother, so it does make sense. Is the person next to you, your superior, Lea-chan?"

"Yes. She's also Elise-sama's childhood friend."

"Oh, nice to meet you."

"Ah, yes..."

Dominique-neesan, you don't need to be so wary of him...

"But I see that Ron-chan is with you as well. I'm happy since you have been neglecting to contact me lately."

"Me too..."

"Candy-san, you were acquainted with Doushi-sama?"

"In the past we adventured together in the same party."

"Wow. You sure have a wide range of personal connections."

"Oh my, thanks for the nice compliment, Lea-chan~"

Candy-san must be fairly talented to have adventured together with the Royal Head Wizard. And yet he's also a professional when it comes to cooking and sewing...

"Have you been invited today as well, Candy-dono?"

"I suppose you could call it like that. The owner of this restaurant is someone I taught various things towards the end of my adventurer career. I'm helping him out a bit for today because of that relationship."

"So he was your junior, eh? You're so kind, Candy-san."

"Aww, I got another nice compliment from Lea-chan~"

Helping a junior on his first steps in his new life after retiring as adventurer is something only few would do. As expected of my friend, Candy-san.

"...Doushi-sama, is something the matter?"

Somehow Doushi-sama is acting quite meek today. Master and his wives are watching his behavior with a tinge of amusement twinkling in their eyes. Maybe he's nervous because he's dealing with someone who's taken care of him in the past.

"Candy-san, you sure are caring."

"The new owner of this place had actually planned to continue being an adventurer for a little longer. But, his father passed away all of a sudden. As it'd be difficult for his mother to run the restaurant by herself, he transformed it into a restaurant that would serve new dishes. He was quite good at cooking to begin with as the cook of his party, so he should be able to draw even more guests to this area, you know?"

He's rooting for the second life of his junior. Yep, Candy-san is a kind man after all.

"Ussu, Earl Baumeister-sama and everyone else!"

Apparently having noticed the commotion outside, the former adventurer and now owner of the restaurant comes out of his store, but he completely fit my image of him. He's smaller than Doushi-sama, but taller than Candy-san.

No wonder for someone who's been an adventurer. He's got that aura.

"Aye! I'm called Dattmann!"

And the way he talks is very adventurey, too! Apparently not wanting to shame his senior, Candy-san, he greets us very politely.

"So, what kind of noodle dish are you serving?"

"I think it'd be better to test it for yourself."

Being urged on by Candy-san, we enter the restaurant with master in the lead.

Thereupon...

"W'lcome!"

"W'come!"

"Wendelin-san?"

Two male employees with a body build close to that of the owner greet us with voices that would probably make any old person's heart stop. Startled by them, Katharina-sama clings to master, and Dominique-neesan to me.

"Lea, are you okay with that?"

"With what?"

Given that the employees are so high-spirited, my expectations for the food to be delicious only go up.

"They're quite energetic."

"Just like me, they're former adventurers! After trainin' 'em over here, I want 'em to open up branch restaurants under the same label in the future!"

As you can tell from his body, Dattmann-san belongs to the strength-focused kind of people, and he seems to be good at taking care of his juniors. I heard that adventurers with a focus on physical prowess unexpectedly rarely fail at their second life after retiring. Though there seem to also exist cases where such people get jobs requiring heavy physical work, or if they're unlucky, become mafia members.

Dattmann-san has them learn how to make the new noodle dishes as he apparently wants to help them walk on their own two feet in their second life. I think Candy-san is helping him out because he agrees with Dattmann-san's way of thinking.

"Not everyone can make a living from sewing like I do. That's why a restaurant."

"It's no bad idea."

Master appears to agree with Candy-san.

"Lea, you understand me well."

I mean, I'm Erwin-sama's fiancée, so I often hear about master's thoughts and notions from him. Erwin-sama says that he's hard to understand, but I am a maid!

"I'm a maid as well, though..."

That's because you're so damn serious about everything, Dominique-neesan. I'm sure!

"The question is the taste of the noodle dishes."

"Oh my, you're quite strict, Wilma-chan."

As always, Wilma-sama has a sharp tongue, or rather, she probably believes that it won't make much sense if no customers come because the taste sucks, no matter how noble and magnificent the restaurant owner's conduct might be.

"I think that it'll be alright. That's why, don't hold back anything and freely tell us your opinion."

"I will do so..."

"Ron-chan, you're truly obedient today, aren't you? In the past you drained the entire stock of a bar together with several adventurer friends and beat up more than a hundred folks by yourself, didn't you? I had to apologize together with you..."

"No... that is a matter of the past..."

Doushi-sama has been quite rowdy in his youth as well, hasn't he? And Candy-san knows the Doushi-sama of that time well since he had to clean up after him. I guess it's only natural for Doushi-sama to act meek towards Candy-san.

"Anyway, about the new noodle dishes..."

Seemingly dreading the idea that more of his past misdeeds could be dragged out into the light in front of us, Doushi-sama shifts the topic towards the new noodle dishes.

"Look, you know about the 『Ramen』 Earl Baumeister-sama invented? We improved on that."

"You mean the noodle dish with broth?"

"Yes. I'm also good at cooking, so I gave some pointers here and there."

When I look towards the kitchen that's located deeper in the restaurant, a huge cylindrical container is being heated by fire. The soup's flavor seems to come from boar and monster bones. Its rich fragrance tells me that it's been cooked well.

Because the cooks of the Baumeister mansion have been recently cooking this kind of soup often upon master's order, I've got a nose for it now.

"Dattmann-chan has decent skills, you know? He's often been in charge of cooking back when I taught him the basics."

"I see. Nothing less of the son of a cook."

"In the past he rebelled against his father, yelling that he'd never become a cook, and then became an adventurer, he told me. But, once his father passed away, he ended up becoming a cook anyway."

"I've got lots o' help from Candy-san, and I also liked my job as an adventurer, but in the end I noticed that I like cookin' the most of all! Dad's not around anymore, but if this restaurant succeeds, it should bring him some joy up in heaven!"

"That's a truly touching story."

Taking over the restaurant as successor for his late father, huh? Apparently sympathizing with the parts overlapping with her own situation, Katharina-sama becomes deeply moved by herself.

"But, it all depends on the taste. And then the substantiality."

"Wilma-san, please don't say something so cold-hearted all of a sudden. I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful noodle dish. I'm going to eat up all of it. Definitely."

Having heard a touching background story, Katharina-sama declares that she'd eat up all of the food samples. But, is she really going to be alright with promising something so easily?

The fact of Wilma-sama and Doushi-sama being here with us gives me a slightly bad feeling about all of this.

"Katharina, is that going to be okay with your diet?"

"It'll be fine if I skip dinner."

"Well, if you insist so much..."

* * *

"Thanks for waitin'!"

After a while the high-spirited owner and his employees placed the new noodle dish in front of us with a bam.

"This is... I guess you could say as expected..."

"Katharina, are you going to be alright?"

"Of course..."

So she says, but her face has clearly cramped up. But that's only understandable as noodle bowls the size of a wash basin have been put down in front of our noses.

"This is... one serving?"

"Looks like it, Dominique-neesan."

With even us having been invited to the food sampling, she's probably groping for a way on how to react to this extra large portion as representative of a normal woman.

"It looks delicious."

"True. This might work."

It feels like this dish has cleared the first trial for Wilma-sama and Doushi-sama.

The noodles inside the bowl are very thick. The water ratio has been raised so that they wouldn't become stale.

"Lea, just when did you obtain that knowledge...?"

"Candy-san taught me."

When the Fujibayashi store in Baulburg held a soba-making fair, Candy-san taught me after having learned it himself in the blink of an eye. As it can also be applied to fresh pasta, Erwin-sama likes it very much as well, my homemade fresh pasta.

"Leaving aside your way of talking, you definitely are quick to pick up new skills."

I mean, I'm a maid after all.

"This dish has quite a quantity..."

At a glance, I'd say that an amount of three adult noodle portions has been used for one portion here. The bowl has also been filled to the brim with broth. Inside you can also see boiled veggies and bulky, roasted pork filet piled up into something akin to a mountain.

"Ooohh! That looks wonderful!"

It sounds like master is pleased with the dish. Does he like this kind of dish because he's a guy?

"Please add as much chopped garlic as you like! It won't be any problem even if you put in plenty o' it!"

"Dominique-neesan, this restaurant is truly generous."

Isn't it lovely to be allowed to put in as much garlic as you want?

"If the portion becomes any bigger by adding some more to it... I think it'll be a challenge to eat up everything, even without adding anything else."

"Isn't that okay since we're here to sample the food?"

"No, leaving behind the food bestowed upon you by God is a sacrilege, that's why..."

As soon as she says so, Dominique-neesan begins to wolf down the dish.

That's Elise-sama's childhood friend for you. She's trying so damn seriously to protect the church teachings.

"Nowadays, there's only a few people who entertain the idea of never leaving anything behind... wai-! All of you are so fast!"

Not only Dominique-neesan, but everyone else has started to eat the noodle dishes with an extreme fervor. Just when I wondered just what was going on with everyone... the change began from master.

"Master, that is?"

"If you shift the location of the vegetables that have been soaked in the broth yet with the soaked noodles like this, the noodles won't grow any staler as you slurp the broth."

"Ooohh! Master, you are a genius!"

I swiftly imitated master, switching the position of veggies and noodles around. This should work well since the noodles won't grow stale like this... though it's not like it's that simple either...

Or rather, this is definitely delicious, but even though I keep eating and eating, it's not becoming less!

"Dominique-neesan?"

Once I looked in Dominique-neesan's direction since my shoulder got suddenly tapped, she pointed at my bowl with half-teary eyes. In short, she's telling me that she'd like me to turn over her veggies as well.

Certainly, even now it's a challenge to finish this, but if the noodles become stale, it'll become even harder for her to finish up everything. But you know, how about giving up anytime soon?

"Hmm? Would you plow it over for me as well?"

...Wait, Katharina-sama too? Does she plan to eat up everything at all costs because her noble mindset forces her to accomplish what she's decided once?

It has occurred to me just now, but Dominique-neesan and Katharina-sama resemble each other quite a bit when it comes to diligence and stubbornness.

Be that as it may, you could say that describing the switch of noodles and veggies as 『plowing over』 fits perfectly in a sense...

By the way, Doushi-sama and Wilma-sama have been single-mindedly wolfing down their portions all the while. Given that it's unthinkable for those two to be unable to finish their portion, no one has been worrying about their side.

"Owner, won't your profit be too low if you serve such big portions?"

"That's where small profits for quick returns come into play! I've struggled with my food during my adventurer time as well! That's why I want my customers to eat plenty!"

The owner is a very kind person, contrary to what you'd expect from his appearance.

Because he had trouble getting enough food in the past, he wants to enable his customers to eat their fill for as cheaply as possible.

"Pheew... somehow I managed to eat all of it, but now my belly is about to burst."

Master has splendidly finished his serving, probably also owed to him being a magician. However, it looks like he can't eat anymore, which totally makes sense.

"It's still nowhere near enough. Another serving please."

"Me too!"

Wilma-sama and Doushi-sama order a second serving, just as usual. However, that's no surprise for any of us.

"(Am I really going to be able... to eat all of this?)"

I don't think that's actually necessary for her to eat all of it, but as I watch Dominique-neesan eating while praying to God every once in a while, I end up wondering whether you'll really receive divine punishment if you don't eat up.

As I kept eating while pondering about such things...

"Oh my, Lea-chan, you're an unexpectedly strong eater, aren't you?"

"Ah!"

Without realizing it myself, I've finished my portion. Come to think of, whenever I go to all-you-can-eat events for cakes, I go back only after having eaten more than anyone else.

"It sure is nice to be young. I've joined the food sampling in this restaurant on several occasions, but because of my age, I couldn't quite finish my own portions. Growing old has many downsides, really."

Even Candy-san can't finish this noodle dish, huh?

Just as I think that, Dominique-neesan taps my shoulder once more.

"What is it, Dominique-neesan?"

"..."

Even without you pulling such a sad face, it'll be just fine to leave the rest since we're merely sampling the food anyway...

"Umm... Dominique-neesan?"

I'm telling you, you don't need to look at me like a beaten puppy! Even if you leave some food behind, no one is...

"God is watching."

"I don't really think that he's watching, but... okay, I got it."

I can't believe that God has so much spare time to bother watching something like this, but... even so, I'm indebted to Dominique-neesan.

In the end I somehow succeeded in eating up the last third of the noodle dish Dominique-neesan didn't finish herself.

"Lea, you're incredible!"

I get praised for it by master, but even if he praises me for something like that... Right...? Then again I suppose it's better than getting scolded...

"I can still eat more!"

"Ron-chan, many people have come to sample the food as part of our advertisement, so hold back a bit, won't you?"

"Yes, of course..."

And then Doushi-sama got scolded by Candy-san after ordering a third bowl. But, next to him, Wilma-sama has been eating her fourth bowl without a care.

As I thought, Candy-san is kind to women.

"Katharina, don't force yourself, okay?"

"I'm a noble. I must follow through on what I've promised once...!"

Katharina-sama, I don't believe you need to eat up everything.

"I'll finish this..."

In the end, Katharina-sama succeeded in eating up everything, probably because of her stubbornness or obstinacy. However, it looks like she's eaten too much. Unable to walk normally on the way back home, she would float across the ground for the whole trip thanks to her 『Flight』 magic.

"Katharina-sama, even without you forcing yourself so much..." says Dominique-neesan who pushed her leftovers on me...

"Earl Baumeister-sama, are there any points requiring improvements!?"

"How about preparing portions with half the amount for women and children, if you're looking for improvements?"

"I see. I guess it's necessary since it's not like everyone will be able to finish the current portions, yep!"

"""..."""

Oh! As expected of master.

At the same time as I believed that it's a wonderful proposal, at least three people, including me, wondered why he didn't suggest this before we sampled the food since he had known about it from the very start.

* * *

"A-At long last, that restaurant will open in Baulburg, right?"

"Katharina, is it that much of a surprise? I think it's only natural since his store has been flourishing."

Some time later, the restaurant which tormented our stomachs so much, became popular in the capital, and started several similar restaurants and branch restaurants. When I wondered about it expanding so quickly, I learned that Candy-san had a part in it.

Joining up with the owner of the place where we went to sample the food, Candy-san began to help out with the opening of his noodle restaurants in a way that would make it easy for retired adventurers to run the business. He also cooperated with the owner of Fujibayashi Dried Goods, shrewdly opening a store selling Mizuho goods and side dishes next to his fashion store in the capital. I suppose you can say that's Candy-san for you.

There are many workers using their bodies in Baulburg. The same can be said about adventurers. Hence Candy-san apparently judged that there would be plenty of demand for the owner's filling noodle dishes over here.

Katharina-sama probably had some things she wanted to say about this matter, but Wilma-sama curtly shot her down by commenting, 『The restaurant is popular, so it's only natural』.

"Are you that unhappy about it?"

"That is not really the case, but... I have my doubts whether it is really such a good idea to allow the residents of Baulburg to go through that tragedy..."

Since they'd usually leave the rest unfinished or buy the smaller portion suggested by master to begin with, I don't think it's anything she needs to worry about so much, though.

"They just need to order a small portion."

"Question is whether that small portion is really as small as you make it. I feel like it'd be best to make sure."

"In other words, you want to eat their noodle dish again, Katharina?"

"T-That's not it! That noodle dish has some rather unrefined, boorish parts to it."

"Then you simply don't need to go there."

"I have a duty to make sure that the people of Baulburg won't suffer."

"Oh really..."

Katharina-sama... even though you floated back home with your tummy hurting the other day... and even though you were teased by Luise-sama for stinking from garlic and having a bloated belly... Despite all that you cannot help but to crave for that noodle dish again...

But, it's not like I can't understand your feelings!

I also thought that I'd never ever want to eat it again after the first time, but... and while we're at it, I guess the same applies to Dominique-neesan as well...

"Lea, about the noodle restaurant that opened in Baulburg; if you want to go there as well, you're free to accompany me."

"No need, really."

"Ugh, you actually want to go there, don't you?"

"It's not that I want to go there by any means. I've also got the option to go there myself, so..."

"It'd be really great if humans could be honest with themselves─!"

"Dominique-neesan, stop grinding my templeeeesss!"

Even though she felt so pained the other day, she wants to eat the same noodle dish again, I guess. Just what kind of magic has been cast on that dish to lure so many people into eating it over and over, including Dominique-neesan... Wait, don't tell me, master has hexed that noodle dish or some such!?!

No way, that can't be... can it?

* * *

"Earl-sama, that noodle restaurant is insanely popular, but the quality of its customers seems to be awfully biased..."

"It's no problem since it's thriving. And it also looks like it's got many regulars."

"Sure looks like it... is the dish so delicious?"

I headed over to that noodle restaurant while accompanied by Dominique-neesan, but while surprisingly standing in line with Arterio-sama as customers, we talked about the noodle dish of this restaurant. Arterio-sama seems to be half in doubt about this restaurant, but it's certainly questionable whether you can call its dishes something super tasty.

But, I'll make a prediction.

Arterio-sama is going to become a regular of this restaurant as well.

I mean, even that damn serious Dominique-neesan couldn't escape the magic charm of this noodle dish.