Ch.136Chapter 136 – Knock, and It Shall Be Abundant (3)

The troublesome customer and his group, who had been thoroughly humiliated in front of the chef, turned bright red.

However, they seemed to lack the caliber and courage to confront a chef who held the title of Marquis.

In the end, the choice they made was to quietly slip out of the restaurant.

As they left, the other customers mockingly laughed at them before returning to their meals in a cheerful atmosphere.

“Let’s head out as well.”

I stood up, ready to leave the restaurant.

At that moment, Mina turned her head toward where the commotion had just occurred.

“Oh, but look… the manager and the chef are coming this way?”

I turned my head at Mina’s words to confirm if what she said was true.

Indeed, the manager and the chef were walking in our direction.

“Good evening. I am the manager of this restaurant. I would like to apologize for the unpleasant scene you witnessed as you were finishing your enjoyable meal.”

“Not at all. My companions and I had a satisfying dinner.”

Plus, we got to witness the amusing spectacle of someone with nasty intentions getting caught in their own trap—how could I possibly complain?

Mina and Elena, standing beside me, nodded in agreement.

“If I may ask, could you tell me your name? We would like to offer you special service when you visit our establishment again.”

“Count Patos Severio.”

“Ah! It is truly an honor to serve the renowned Demon Sword Destroyer, Count Patos Severio, at our establishment.”

The manager seemed quite surprised upon hearing my name.

“Do you need verification?”

“The lady beside you is Elena Sandrios, daughter of Marquis Ielron Sandrios, is she not? Naturally, there is only one nobleman from the Eastern Continent who would be in her company.”

At the manager’s words, I turned to look at Elena.

When she noticed me looking at her, Elena smiled and nodded.

It seemed that due to my frequent meetings with Elena while seeing Mina, certain rumors had spread throughout noble society.

Such rumors could work against me, but at least in situations like this, it was fortunate that I didn’t need to prove my identity separately.

In truth, I could have proven my identity with the ring on my right index finger.

But well, isn’t it more convenient and better not to have to present something like an ID?

“Did you say Count Patos Severio?”

“Yes.”

“I am Marquis Dedio Gentrium, the owner and chef of this restaurant. It’s an honor to meet such a renowned celebrity.”

Marquis Dedio Gentrium. Looking closely, I could see the shape of a ring protruding from beneath the glove on his right hand.

“Thank you for your kind regard. Your culinary skills were remarkable, Marquis. From the appetizers to the final dessert, every dish was superior to anything I’ve had elsewhere.”

“Hahaha! To receive such high praise from the Empire’s hero! This is truly an honor!”

With that, Marquis Gentrium slapped my back so hard it made a loud sound.

“I’ll personally compensate you for today’s disturbance, so drop by the restaurant again sometime. I’ll treat you to the most expensive course meal.”

“I’m grateful for just the offer.”

“Hahaha, modest too! Well then, have a safe journey back.”

Marquis Gentrium and the manager left our side to apologize to the other customers.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s do that.”

After leaving the restaurant, we wandered through the streets, which were buzzing with a festive atmosphere.

“Hey there, handsome young men and beautiful ladies walking by~ Come over and try your luck!”

“Hey, good-looking brother~ Want to come over and have your fortune told?”

“Special price just for today! Ice peaches, a specialty from the far northern region, for just one silver coin!”

“It’s so lively.”

This was Mina’s assessment of the streets that were bustling with festival excitement.

“I agree. But it’s natural for people to be excited on a festival day.”

This was Elena’s assessment.

“When else would people be this excited if not during a festival? Daily life is repetitive and monotonous, so we need a bit of spice like festivals to alleviate the boredom.”

“Hearing you say it, Count, I think you’re right. Spice sprinkled on a dull daily life…”

Elena seemed to agree with my words.

Unlike nobles who had enough leisure to enjoy various cultural activities, commoners’ leisure was limited to chatting at taverns or while doing laundry.

That’s why festivals served to invigorate people’s mundane daily lives with excitement.

Even I found solace in games during my boring corporate life.

Festivals? The coronavirus wiped them all out.

That damn virus. Because of it, prices went up, making it hard to afford in-game purchases.

Ahem. Well, anyway, that’s all in the past now.

The me who lived there is dead, and this world is my new home.

“Since we’re already out, how about enjoying the festival until we have to return to the dormitory?”

“Sounds good! But we should pretend to be commoners to truly enjoy the festival, so how about dropping formalities just for now?”

“Sure? Let’s do that.”

“…”

“…”

Mina and Elena stared at me wide-eyed when I suddenly dropped the formal speech.

“What? Is it strange that I suddenly speak informally?”

“H-how can you switch to informal speech so suddenly?”

Is dropping formalities that difficult?

Honestly, the noble’s formal way of speaking feels awkward to me.

I prefer the casual way of speaking, like talking with friends.

“Mina. Just address us comfortably while we’re here. Right now, we’re just people out to enjoy the festival.”

“Oh, okay! I’ll do that!”

Mina, being smart enough to study magic, quickly adapted to informal speech.

“Sh-should I speak informally too?”

“Don’t you think you should?”

“Oh, I see… Is this… right?”

“You’re doing well. It’ll be much more comfortable once you get used to it. Let’s go enjoy the festival.”

With Elena also speaking informally, we finally looked like people who had come out to have fun together.

Perhaps because it was festival season, everyone was dressed well, making it difficult to distinguish between commoners and nobles by appearance.

Thanks to this, the three of us were able to truly enjoy the festival before returning to the dormitory.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

The demonstration the next day concluded successfully.

Perhaps due to word of mouth from those who attended the nostalgic demonstration, more people gathered than usual.

Even those who had attended the previous day came back, making my booth literally packed with people.

There was only one thing I could do.

‘I provided the circus yesterday, so today it’s time to provide bread.’

Since ancient times, bread and circuses have been methods used by many rulers to appease people.

Of course, I’m not a ruler, but I knew this method was excellent for gaining people’s favor.

To provide bread to the enormous number of people filling my booth inside and out, I used a trick.

I used my ability on boxes filled with stale, moldy bread.

Because of this, I had to ask people to buy all the unsold bread from Arkenium’s bakeries at a bargain price.

“I’ll pay you enough, so could you go to the city bakeries and get bread that hasn’t sold and would otherwise be discarded?”

“Keep your money. Today, we serve the citizens and the Empire.”

The academy student guards refused payment and went around collecting old, unsold bread from bakeries.

The amount they gathered was enough to fill ten carts.

But I used my trick to turn all the bread in those ten carts into fresh bread.

‘I used my ability under the pretext of inspecting the carts.’

But what was this?

“Wow! The carts have turned brand new!”

“Even the horses look healthier than before!”

Did Epitrina do something behind my back?

I expected the carts to become new, but the bread inside was steaming hot, and even the horses attached to the carts had become completely healthy.

‘Oh damn, I didn’t expect this.’

“Incredible, this must be the legendary bread! It’s just bread, but it’s delicious!”

“To think that withered and even moldy bread could transform into such delicious, soft bread.”

“Ho ho ho, this is something that even magic cannot explain. Truly, this must be the power of the divine.”

But the people’s reactions were explosive, and thanks to that, the demonstration could be concluded successfully.

“Ahem. Could you spare one of those loaves for me as well?”

“Oh my, of course we must offer some to His Imperial Majesty and the Chancellor!”

Little did I know that after the demonstration, His Imperial Majesty would appear in the principal’s office with the Chancellor and summon me.