Three days later, Mamy Restaurant.Mag looked at Cayrols, who had come to pay him a visit, and he smiled as he said, "Amba.s.sador Cayrols, I"ve decided to accept your offer to travel with you to Rodu, and cook for His Majesty during his birthday banquet. It would undoubtedly be a very interesting experience for me to be able to cook with chefs from all over the Norland Continent."
Cayrols had prepared a script to convince Mag to make the trip to Rodu, but all of his preparations had been made redundant. Despite that, this was naturally good news to him, and so he smiled as he said, "You"ve made the right decision, Mr. Mag. I trust that His Highness, the prince, would be very pleased after tasting your cooking. If you can satisfy His Majesty as well, you"ll be able to remain in Rodu as His Majesty"s personal cook. In that case, it won"t be difficult for you to open a restaurant larger than Ducas Restaurant in Rodu."
"I"m willing to travel to Rodu, but I must make a few things clear in advance, amba.s.sador: I"m only making the trip to Rodu as a learning experience. I can only stay there for a maximum of five days. All of Mamy Restaurant"s customers are still waiting for me to come back and cook for them, so I won"t remain in Rodu or the royal palace. Amy is also studying magic with the two great magic casters in Chaos City, so we"ll have to come back no matter what. Also, Mamy Restaurant may not be a large restaurant, but I currently make profits of around 500,000 copper coins per day. During this trip, I"ll be forced to temporarily close down my restaurant. If His Highness would like to invite me to Rodu, then regarding the opportunity of my trip…"
Mag smiled as he looked at Cayrols, and his words cut off mid-sentence.
Cayrols faltered slightly upon hearing this before smiling as he said, "Rest a.s.sured, Mr. Mag, His Highness will definitely issue you 500,000 copper coins per day for the entirety of your trip. However, have you ever thought about leaving Chaos City, Mr. Mag? Rodu is not inferior to Chaos City in any aspect, and all of the wealthiest people in the Roth Empire have flocked to Rodu. As such, the average spending power there would undoubtedly be superior to that of Chaos City. Won"t you consider moving your restaurant to Rodu for a brighter future? Also, if you catch the fancy of His Highness and His Majesty, it"s quite possible that you could be rewarded with a dukes.h.i.+p; that"s not something that you can obtain here in Chaos City. Your daughter is current studying magic under two great magic casters, but His Highness could easily arrange for her to enter the Magus Tower. That place is the holy land for all magic casters, and it would be a great honor for her to become a part of such a sacred place."
Mag shook his head with a smile, and replied, "My apologies, Amba.s.sador Cayrols, but I"ve always been of the opinion that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
Cayrols look deep into Mag"s eyes, and he could tell that Mag wasn"t going to change his mind. As such, he rose to his feet, and said, "Alright, I won"t force the issue, then, Mr. Mag. We"ll be setting off for Rodu in nine days; I hope you"ll make preparations in advance, Mr. Mag."
"I"ll be sure to do so." Mag nodded, and then looked on as Cayrols departed.
…
In the Blue Suede Textiles Shop, all of the tailors were busy at work. The employees that had grown accustomed to complacency had also been taken out of their comfort zones, and were a.s.sisting the tailors in their work.
The entire store had become a miniature clothing production factory, with over 20 tailors and their students working hard to produce dresses as quickly as they could.
These tailors weren"t exactly extremely renowned in Chaos City, but they were all skilled craftsmen. Under normal circ.u.mstances, it would be a good month for them if they could receive three or four orders for custom-made clothes, and they were barely making ends meet.
As such, when the Blue Suede Textiles Shop extended invitations for them to produce clothes based on ready-made designs, and offered remuneration that was twice what they had received for their past custom-made jobs for every dress they produced, almost none was able to reject such an offer. As long as they worked quickly enough, their earnings would increase severalfold compared to their income in the past, so all of them were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with drive and enthusiasm.
Aside from taking time to rest and sleep, Gloria was almost constantly in the shop, making sure that every finished product was of an exemplary quality that was worth the prices they were charging.
Gloria made her way over to a seamstress, who was busy embroidering the dress draped over the table before her, and a look of approval appeared on Gloria"s face as she praised, "Rebecca, your embroidery skills are really good. I"ll get you to embroider all of the collars for our first batch of dresses."
Rebecca hurriedly rose to her feet upon hearing this, and she waved her hands in a fearful manner as she said, "Young Mistress, I"m just a normal seamstress; how can you entrust such an important duty exclusively to me? I"m already extremely thankful that I"m able to work here."
She had come to this shop in search of a job following a recommendation from Mag. Initially, she was only trying her luck, but to her surprise, she was actually hired. Her monthly wage was far higher than what she had been earning in the past, and it was already sufficient for her to make ends meet and also pay for Jessica"s tuition without having to rely on subsidies from the city lord"s castle.
Rebecca knew that Mr. Mag and Young Mistress Gloria definitely knew each other, but she didn"t slack off nor get complacent, and made sure to do her job with a serious and diligent att.i.tude.
However, Gloria was asking her to embroider the collars of the first batch of dresses, which were being sold for hundreds of thousands of copper coins per dress, and she was feeling extremely overwhelmed by that prospect.
Gloria shook her head with a smile, and said, "You have the skills required to succeed in this role. I want to give all of my customers the most perfect dresses, and to do that, I need you."
"I…" Rebecca looked at Gloria, and there were already tears s.h.i.+mmering in her eyes. In the past, she had felt fortunate just to be alive, let alone receive praise and respect from others. This was a feeling that had been sorely missing from her life.
Gloria smiled, and continued, "By the way, I heard you have a daughter who would come to play outside the shop from time to time, right?"
A tense expression immediately appeared on Rebecca"s face as she hurriedly said, "Yes. My daughter is still very young, and I"m the only one looking after her, so I told her to come over during lunchtime so I could split some of my lunch with her. If you don"t like that, then I"ll tell her not to come anymore."
Gloria shook her head, and replied, "Those aren"t my intentions. If you"d like, you can bring your daughter to work with you, and she can play inside the shop as long as she doesn"t disrupt the other tailors. I"ll also get them to prepare an extra meal for her, so you won"t have to split your lunch with her."
Rebecca stared at Gloria with disbelief in her eyes, completely at a loss for words.
"A few days ago, Teacher Luna told me that she has already received the first batch of donations for her foundation. It won"t be long before your daughter will be able to go to school. Before that, let her come and stay with you in the shop. You"ll be able to look after her here as well," Gloria continued.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Rebecca rose to her feet and bowed deeply toward Gloria.
Gloria also bowed in return, and smiled as she said, "I"ll be leaving the embroidery of those dresses to you, then."
…
That night, Anna stood in front of Mamy Restaurant"s floor-to-ceiling window, and asked, "Uncle Mag, is Uncle Blour going to come back?"