AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 70
Episode 7-10
Day 15 since I became the manager of Aion Mall Otherworldly Store.
Evening peaks are nothing unusual, but today feels different.
“This is delicious, really delicious! I’ve never eaten anything like this before!”
“Hahaha! I knew it, I knew it! After all, this is-…”
“Fried cockatrice meat…? Give me some too!”
“They say this one’s smoked basilisk. Is that okay, Manager-san?”
“Ah, yes. Um, today is Employee Appreciation Day, so the staff is offering food to the customers. Let’s go with that.”
“Oh, is that so, Naoya? Everyone, feel free to eat up!”
“Chloe, just let it slide. We’re only doing this because Barbera’s parents might have caused monster damage, so we’re just covering it up. It’s like a makeshift solution.”
In front of the main entrance of Aion Mall Otherworldly Store, adventurers and local farmers are enjoying the food.
There’s no usual meat, but we have leftover Ancient Dragon Tail Soup. We also have Unicorn Rabbit Stew, Thunderhorn Deer Roast, Steamed Murder Bear Paw, Fried Cockatrice, and Smoked Basilisk. All these dishes were prepared using the monsters Barbera’s dad hunted earlier. The monsters came out of their habitats because of Barbera’s dad and mom in the first place.
“Everyone seems happy, Naoya-san. It’d be great if the reputation for delicious food could attract more customers.”
“Well, that’s not really the goal this time. Since the cause is ‘family,’ it’s more about sharing and making amends.”
“Naoya-san, you’re so serious. You don’t have to worry about it so much.”
“Wait! Naoya, are you feeding me this food to say, ‘You know what this means, right?’ or something?”
“That’s short-sighted, Chloe. Take the fried chicken to the adventurers. Thanks to them, we could prepare in advance.”
I handed Chloe a plate of freshly fried chicken from the outdoor cooking space.
“Leave it to me, Naoya! Ouch, hot!”
“Why did you eat that? Just because it’s free doesn’t mean the staff should be eating it. I told you to bring it to them.”
The clumsy knight apparently snuck a bite while taking the plate. Chloe seems to be getting clumsier lately. Well, it’s probably because she’s excited after the monster subjugation party. If it weren’t for Barbera’s parents, Chloe would have been the main force today. So I’ll let it slide, just for today.
I prepare another plate of freshly fried chicken.
“These ceramic plates were fired by Barbera’s ‘Breath,’ right? Both parent and child are quite extraordinary.”
“…That’s how it is.”
“Naoya-san, ‘Dragon Breath’ causes the desired ‘result of burning’ that the dragon intends.”
“Oh, yes, I remember hearing that when she was firing the plates. So this time, Barbera’s dad burned only the targeted spots?”
“Who knows?”
“Oh, you are not sure? I almost said, ‘You don’t even know that, Anna?'”
“So Naoya-san is trying to call me casually without any honorifics?”
“Even Anna-san is troubled by that? I feel stupid for taking this so seriously.”
“Hehe. Human-san, the concept of ‘burning’ with dragon breath skips the process and directly causes the result.”
“Thanks for the explanation, Mama Barbera-san. I still don’t get it at all.”
Mama Barbera, who brought an empty plate, said something that I didn’t quite understand. It felt like she was just saying something plausible.
“Hey, darling, since it’s a special occasion, why don’t we bring out the best?”
“Wait! How did you know about that?! My favorite hidden stash—”
“That engraving on the barrel, could it be? The distilled liquor from a small brewery on an island across the sea?! The one that costs as much as a mansion for a single barrel!”
“Come on, everyone, help yourselves. He was planning to keep it all to himself, but good things are meant to be shared.”
“Damn it! There’s no helping it now! Drink with me, humans!”
“Woohoo! Is this for real?”
“Cheers!”
“Oh, it’s such a waste to chug it! But, fine, I’ll join in too!”
The party seemed to kick into high gear with the introduction of the liquor. Even in a different world, hidden stashes being discovered and shared remains a universal constant. Not to mention, it’s best not to question where the barrel came from. After all, magical storage tools exist in this world.
In fact, Mama Barbera took it out from a magical storage bag.
“Manager-san, do you have something refreshing?”
“Right, Naoya, it’s time for some fruit!”
“Good idea, Chloe!”
“Getting tired of just meat dishes, huh? Chloe is starting to sound like an elf. But you know we don’t have any fruit here, don’t you, staff?”
“Hahaha! Bring it out.”
“Yes, dear.”
Mama Barbera pulled out a cloth bag from what seemed to be her magical storage bag.
Inside were oranges. Or rather, orange-like fruits. Fruits that were not available at the open-air market in the nearest town. Clearly, they weren’t the kind of fruits that local farmers could grow.
“That fruit! It’s the citrus from the far southern country!”
“Do you know about it, merchant-san? Well, whatever. Barbera’s parents are too free-spirited.”
I sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun had completely set, and the stars were shining.
“…This is fun.”
“Yeah, Barbera, it’s nice to have days like this occasionally. It’s Employee Appreciation Day, after all. Though it’s quite different from the Employee Appreciation Day back in my original world.”
I didn’t want to spoil the fun for the customers, Barbera’s parents, or Chloe. I made a weak excuse and patted the smiling Barbera on the head.
The party went on until late, and thus ended the 15th day of business at Aion Mall Otherworldly Store under my management.
Number of visitors: 138. Sales: 296,000 yen. The low turnout might be because the news about the unexpected monster movements spread in town, causing adventurers and merchants to stay indoors.
In this world, external factors can mean ‘external threats,’ leading to a drop in customer numbers and sales. At least we don’t count monsters as customers. Unlike Japanese monsters (Yokai?), the monsters in this world are straightforward and easy to deal with.
Non-customer monsters can be slain! It’s incredibly liberating!