Chapter 9 – Emblem (Part 1)
Yashiro and Ginette returned to Hidamari-tei after receiving the mountain of vegetable from Mormatt. Yashiro who was going to put the vegetables into the food storage, witnessed something unbelievable.
“You"re kidding me!?” (Yashiro)
The food storage was stuffed with thrown-away vegetables to point there were no gaps left inside.
Just how much thrown-away vegetable has she bought?
“Can these be spent?” (Yashiro)
“Umm…. about that…. there"s also the portion for food donation, so….” (Ginette)
“Have these ever been spent?” (Yashiro)
“………… I"m sorry. The large amount of them were turned into compost last time.” (Ginette)
Hmm, should I rub her b.o.o.bs as punishment? I can"t say it, but I"m in the mood for it.
“B-But, there"s still effective utilization of them, so… umm…. I mean… the vegetables will not be wasted…” (Ginette)
“Excessive composting will ruin the crops, and simply scattering rotten vegetables over the field won"t turn them into fertilizer.” (Yashiro)
“…. ri-right.” (Ginette)
I guess she has always been like this. She couldn"t refuse and bought a large amount of thrown-away vegetables from the merchants, even though she tried to use them as much as possible, the vegetables still left in quant.i.ties and started to rot. Feeling guilty, she turned most of them into compost in the end. Nevertheless, she kept accepting the vegetables from the merchants and repeated the loop.
“I will adjust the purchase amount from the next time onwards. But first, we have to use these vegetables as much as possible until the last minute.” (Yashiro)
“How about increasing the size of dish?” (Ginette)
“If you do that, it will be difficult to return the dish to its original size. You will make the customers think that they have to pay the same price for the smaller dish later.” (Yashiro)
It will be fatal if the customers come with the expectation to get the bigger-sized dish again. Customer service is all about meeting their expectations. Otherwise, the business can"t be established.
I guess there"s no other choice but increasing the number of costumers.
“You will run the restaurant as usual. If there"s a bad place, I will correct it each time.” (Yashiro)
“Yes! I"m counting on you!” (Ginette)
Well, if these vegetables cannot be spent by all means, I can make pickled vegetable or dried vegetable from them, maybe? But setting that aside, there"s more urgent matter right now.
“Say, are there carpenter tools here?” (Yashiro)
“Yes. There should be something that Grandpa always used in the storeroom.” (Ginette)
“How about leftover wood?” (Yashiro)
“If it"s firewood, there"s plenty.” (Ginette)
Firewood? Well, I will manage it somehow or another.
“Okay, I will fix the chairs and the table.” (Yashiro)
“That would be a great help!” (Ginette)
Ginette"s expression brightened up.
“I"m not good with DIY…. I tried to repair the broken chairs, but somehow, they always turned rickety instead….” (Ginette)
So you"re the perpetrator!? Why can you just cut some wood of a suitable length and nail it to the chair?
“You prepare to open the restaurant, and leave the reparation to me!” (Yashiro)
“Yes. I will bring the tools right away.” (Ginette)
The tools that Ginette brought is surprisingly fulfilling. I couldn"t find sand papers, but there"s a soft file made of beast skin with rough surface. This will do the job.
Next Yashiro and Ginette went to the back of the house. There was a storage area behind the toilet.
“Huge!?” (Yashiro)
When she said firewood, I imagined they were pieces of wood about 30 cm long, but this is…. a log of 3 meters in length.
To be used for firewood, it"s necessary to cut this log into suitable length, further divide it with an axe, and then dry it.
However, it seems that the work doesn"t make a progress because of Ginette"s lack of power. This is not an easy task to make firewood…. I guess it"s going to be my job from now on.
Well, anyway, I will be able to repair the chairs and tables with this!
This log seems to have been left for a long time and perfectly dried out. It"s unlikely that the wood will swell later on, even if I used it as material.
"Well then, I will leave the rest to you!" (Ginette)
Ginette went back to the house.
Here is a cool and nice place to work because of the surrounding trees, but…. I will do the reparation in front of the restaurant so that I can see the customers who come.
I also want to examine the customer entry and customer base. Last but not least, me being there will work as a dine-and-dash prevention as well.
Thus Yashiro started repairing the rickety chairs in front of the restaurant. The length of chair legs was aligned and the seat surface was also leveled. The parts that would likely touch the skin such as backrest, were smoothed with rough beast skin.
This will make the customers more comfortable when sitting!
While Yashiro was absorbed in such works, the sun had pa.s.sed the top and began to tilt.
………… no customers come.
We came back from the church around 09:00 a.m. and the restaurant opened at 10:00 a.m. — I knew it because I checked the time on my watch regularly. This world also seems to be turning around 24 hours a day.
Well, anyway, now is already 04:00 p.m. but no single customer come during that time. This is really a serious situation….
Now I"m really curious about what kind of customer who would come this restaurant. Maybe they"re just Ginette"s acquaintances who occasionally come.
This place seems to be lack of publicity. There"s a high possibility of pa.s.serby goes inside because of the delicious aroma from Ginette"s cooking, but…. I mean, is there a good reason for someone to go to such a remote place like this? I haven"t seen anyone pa.s.sing by.
The pedestrian traffic of this place is almost zero. The worst location for a restaurant….
Since Yashiro has nothing else to do, he did other thing besides repairing the chairs and tables. The emblem of the lord on the expired permit from Estella — a double-headed eagle and a snake — he perfectly copied and carved it into the leftover piece of wood using a chisel.
I must say this is a good result because there are the right tools for the job. Next is….
"Ginette, do you have paper that I can use?" (Yashiro)
"Yes. I have it." (Ginette)
Yashiro used the ink that he had previously purchased from the clothes shop on the low-quality paper that Ginette gave him.
Yup, both the size and the look are exactly the same.
Come to think of it, that clothing shop"s owner sold me ink, doesn"t that mean that he has broken the rules? I don"t think someone who owns a store on the main street would do something that stupid though.
Used is sold as a second-hand…. Taking advantage of this loophole, maybe it"s possible to sell something other than food at this restaurant. Of course, we wouldn"t go through the commerce guild.
“Umm, Yashiro-san…. this is….” (Ginette)
Hesitantly, Ginette called to Yashiro after seeing the emblem stamped on the paper she brought.
“Well done, isn"t it?” (Yashiro)
I have a confidence in the dexterity of my hands. I always utilize the technique that Chief had taught me for my job…. Well, you know, forgery is a pretty easy-to-gain business.
I"m also very good at sewing. With the adequate materials, I can make fake branded bag that similar to the real one.
"Umm, it"s a felony to abuse the lord"s emblem…." (Ginette)
"I"m not abusing the lord"s emblem." (Yashiro)
"If so, then it"s good…." (Ginette)
Ginette looked at Yashiro with suspicious eyes.
Did her intuition begin to sense my true character? Nah, it"s impossible. This girl is a natural airhead. It"s even doubtful that she has something called “intuition”.
Yashiro then put the paper with stamped emblem into his pocket.
Oh right, a chest pocket!
“Ginette. Do you have some cloth, thread, and needle?” (Yashiro)
“Yes. I have them.” (Ginette)
Is this place have everything!?
Yashiro began to sew a chest pocket to his clothes.
The chest pocket is very important and helpful. You can store pen, paper, and it will look elegant if you combine it with a handkerchief.
Yashiro put the stamped paper into his chest pocket to make it easier for the other people to see.
I don"t have anything else to do now….
The first customer finally came when the sky turned red — a gentle-looking old lady who broke into smile the moment she saw Ginette"s face. Seeing her coming, Ginette immediately jumped out of the counter and then welcomed her with a big smile.
Hmm, I guess she"s her acquaintance.
The old lady didn"t seem to be economically capable, she went home after drinking a cup of 1 Rb tea. She seemed to have come only to support Ginette while having a small talk.
It"s not profitable….
Proofreader: _____
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