Chapter 20 – The Store’s Expansion (1)

April arrived.

Peach blossoms and azaleas displayed their beautiful forms across the academy grounds.

On pleasant days, students would set up folding chairs on the lawn to enjoy their tea time.

This was the period when freshmen were beginning to adapt to university life.

Though I wasn’t certain, there seemed to be many special lectures for newcomers, and various salons were starting to recruit members.

Perhaps because of this, it was an incredibly irritating annual phenomenon for me.

These ignorant youngsters used every campus building to promote their salons.

Naturally, the outer walls and trees around my store were not spared.

I’d wake up to find flyers plastered all over my place, as if I lived in a food alley at dawn.

Some of these so-called magicians even enchanted their flyers with moving pictures or spells to make them fly away when someone tried to remove them.

Popular salons operated on a membership basis, making it impossible to join without a recommendation.

To host balls or exhibitions, they needed venues, so they had endorsements from merchant guilds or noble houses.

Consequently, the groups advertising like this were closer to ordinary club activities with little connection to high society.

“Hmm~”

As I collected the flyers each morning, Adela would examine them closely, looking for a place she might like.

But our dimwitted Adela had low intelligence yet oddly high self-esteem, making it difficult for her to find a suitable place.

She pointed to a flyer in my hand and asked, “What do you think of this one? It’s a ‘Survey of Heljeb’s Depths’ group.”

“Just join something like that.”

I pointed to the flyer beneath it, which read ‘Super Cowards’ Haven.’

What kind of group names itself like that?

“No way.”

As expected, Adela rejected it.

But her options didn’t seem very broad.

“You’ve been kicked out of every place you’ve joined so far, anyway.”

The afterglow of the tournament seemed to have lingered slightly, as Adela had received numerous membership invitations a few weeks ago.

But her “performances” had been spectacular enough to shatter all expectations.

At a classical music concert, her snoring created her own “muse,” overshadowing the musicians. In the fine arts research club, she painted ‘Satan’s Gate’ with oil paints for three days and nights, turning the entire salon into a devil worship club.

She even joined the most popular magic-related salons in the academy, but predictably caused a second-rank spell to go berserk, sending the supervising professor, Sir Vincent, to the temple that very day.

It took only three days for the flood of invitations to dry up completely.

“I left because I wanted to! They couldn’t handle my greatness!”

She’s especially feisty today.

A game of invisible hot potato was clearly underway in this peaceful April at Farencia Academy.

“How about this one? It’s a ‘Great War Heroes Investigation’ group.”

Adela boldly peeled a flyer from the door handle and approached me again, asking.

Her attitude seemed the same as usual, but there was one subtle difference.

She was standing unusually close.

“It looks like they visit historical museums and magic towers for field trips. Wouldn’t it be great for skipping classes?”

A faint scent of fresh grass wafted over her shoulder.

Inside her improperly buttoned sleeves, glimpses of her white wrists were visible.

She wore a hastily draped cape and a crookedly pinned Order of Merit.

Her shoes were dirty.

Despite this disheveled appearance, the audacious size of her chest and the elegant curves beneath her skirt occasionally shook my resolve.

The Flower of the North Sea.

Truly a fitting nickname.

Her proportions were excellent, her lineage outstanding, and her face pretty, making for perfect packaging.

Only the contents were strange.

“Teacher?”

Her innocent gaze looked up at me as she pressed her body against mine.

Perhaps I’m just overthinking it?

***

With fewer essential items needed by students at the beginning of the semester, the store gradually became less busy.

That didn’t mean I spent the time idly.

Recently, I had been planning to expand the store.

Ironically, it was thanks to Viscountess Darling, who always had her eye on my sweet home, spending quite a bit on popcorn during the last tournament.

The plot marked as ‘My Purchased Land’ was much larger than the current store building.

If I set up a few partition walls and did some hammering, expanding wouldn’t be difficult.

I planned to use the extended space as a lounge or café where people could have tea and coffee.

I could also sell bread from the counter there.

The problem is the inevitable shortage of manpower that comes with business expansion…

The store was already too large for me to handle alone.

The only reason it had managed so far was mainly due to the lack of fixed operating hours.

But there could be times when I’d need to leave suddenly, like before.

Having a reliable part-timer wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Well, that could be considered later. Construction comes first.

In the late afternoon, before sunset, I closed the store early and headed out of the academy.

Even if I did the hammering myself, I needed to procure materials for the construction and various items for the café.

Selecting a supplier, like the bakery that delivered weekly, would be best, but since the list of items wasn’t small, I didn’t want to go around looking for them myself.

It was best to ask someone more knowledgeable.

A short distance from the city center, on a gently sloping hill surrounded by forest.

The grand castle facing south belonged to the wealthiest person in Pennheim and the lord of Farencia, Viscountess Ruhillen.

I entered the estate naturally. The guards didn’t stop me.

I wasn’t here to see Darling. She would still be at the academy.

Thud, thud, thud!

After knocking on the brass lion’s head door knocker, the door opened shortly after.

Inside stood an elderly but neatly dressed butler with graying hair.

He bowed deeply to me.

“It’s been a while, Master.”

“Stop with that ‘Master’ nonsense. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Welcome. Please come in.”

The old butler’s name was Bill.

He had served the previous Viscount Ruhillen for a long time and was Darling’s closest aide.

He wasn’t just a mere servant managing the mansion.

He also handled merchant guild affairs to relieve Darling’s burden of both academy life and lordly duties.

“I received word that the mistress will return in an hour. How about having dinner together?”

“Then I’d better leave before that.”

A perfect butler, except for calling his master ‘mistress’ and treating me as her spouse.

“Did you walk here?”

“Yes.”

“Did you perhaps inform any acquaintances that you were coming here…”

“I announced it to the whole neighborhood.”

Last time I came by carriage, but due to some incident, the wheels were damaged, making the return journey quite troublesome.

Although he sometimes extended sly hands like his master, his work was undeniably efficient.

When we arrived at the guest reception room, a maid brought simple refreshments and tea.

Ignoring them, I got straight to the point.

“I’m planning to expand the store. I need construction materials and some furnishings.”

“What purpose will it serve?”

“To serve tea and coffee.”

“Oh, you have a talent for tea ceremonies? Then, we have someone at one of our shops who—”

“I’ll handle that part myself, don’t worry about it.”

He nodded without hesitation.

“If you provide me with a list of the required items, I’ll have them delivered to the academy by next week. Do you need a design plan for the interior?”

“A nice design would be good.”

“I’ll commission an expert, then.”

After all, it wasn’t a neighborhood tavern. Given the nobles’ high standards, it was necessary to meet a minimal aesthetic requirement.

“Here’s the payment.”

“Haha, there’s no need. All of this—the businesses and this mansion—will eventually be yours, so why take payment now?”

“Stop talking nonsense and take it.”

I forced a pouch full of silver coins into Bill’s hands.

In the end, it was all money from Darling’s pockets.

My hasty disposal of it was a noble act of social contribution.

With my business concluded, I quickly stood up.

This cunning butler said an hour, which meant Darling would arrive in thirty minutes.

If we happened to meet, she would undoubtedly throw a tantrum, so I decided to return to the store immediately.

“I’m leaving. Thanks for handling this.”

“I’ll prepare a carriage for you.”

“No need.”

“At least allow me to see you off…”

Bill insisted on following me out of the mansion.

I saw a few servants watering flowers in the garden, but their number was small compared to the grandeur of the Ruhillen estate.

The reason wasn’t hard to discern.

After all, there was only one person in this mansion they truly needed to serve.

As I was leaving the mansion, my eyes fell upon two memorial stones placed in the best spot overlooking all of Farencia.

After the Great War, there were many bodies left unfound across the continent.

Thus, it became a tradition to decorate graves without bodies with the deceased’s belongings and flowers to ease the pain.

Cenotaphs—graves without bodies.

The previous Viscount Ruhillen didn’t die during the Great War, but his remains were never found.

And that was the debt weighing on my heart that prevented me from being harsh to Darling.

“Still haven’t found them?”

“No. We’ve been scouring the western forest where the monster wave occurred each spring for seven years now, but there’s been no progress.”

“……”

“Please don’t trouble yourself over it. They were already deceased, and all of Farencia was on the brink of annihilation. If it weren’t for you, Master Louis, Lady Darling would have perished as well.”

Despite Bill’s reassurances, my mood didn’t improve. If only I had been more cautious back then.

Before Farencia Academy was even built. Back then, I was utterly merciless when it came to matters involving demons.

“Take care, Master Louis.”

Years of receiving the old butler’s sincere gratitude still left a bitter aftertaste of regret.

I couldn’t forget the sobs of a young girl digging through the ashes of the blackened forest with her bare hands.