Chapter 73: This is!? A month after I was introduced to Franz-san and Oscar-san, a new shop opened up in the royal capital.
It is a shop managed by the company Franz-san is the chairman of.
The shop is located on the street with shops where n.o.bles frequent.
Apparently, they built it here because the customers who had bought my cosmetics had only been n.o.bles.
However, it was also close to where the commoner shops were.
They predicted that wealthy commoners will also become customers in the future.
Franz-san"s prediction seemed spot-on.
Not only n.o.bles, but a lot of girls who looked like they were wealthy merchant daughters also frequent the shop.
The shop got really crowded because the young ladies also had their attendants with them.
I wonder if it"s rare to see such a busy shop at the corner of a street full of high-end shops.
I thought this when I watched the shop at a distance when it had just opened.
"It"s a great success."
"That"s right. Sei-sama"s cosmetics are more popular than I"d expected."
"Only n.o.bles brought the products at the previous shop, right?"
"Apparently they also made a lot of profit from them. That shop was famous amongst the merchants in the royal capital. So, the young ladies from merchant houses also gossiped about it."
"Did the previous shop only sell to n.o.bles?"
"Apparently. They couldn"t keep up with the sales. Well, Franz-san is also grateful because he was able to expand his customer base thanks to Sei-sama"s proposal."
The one speaking friendly is Oscar-san.
Maybe it"s because we"ve been talking a lot in this one month to prepare for the shop opening, but he started speaking in a more friendly tone.
I guess I was able to think of the time, place and occasion since I felt that he was humbling himself at first.
I didn"t blame him since this was more comfortable than him humbling himself, so I just let him continue.
Apparently only I thought like this, since the person opposite me was bothered by Oscar-san"s att.i.tude.
Unlike his usual self, he threw a sharp expressionless glare at Oscar-san.
Captain-san was accompanying me as a guard because I was going out to the royal capital.
"What was the proposal?" Captain-san must have been curious about what Oscar-san was talking about because he finally spoke even though he had remained quiet until now.
"She suggested that we separate the products by how effective they are." I don"t know if he noticed Captain-san"s gaze or not, but he explained humbly.
I proposed that Franz-san offer cheap cosmetic products.
What they had offered until now was stuff made by people with the pharmacy skill, so it was a little expensive.
However, I used recipes which were popular in my previous world to make those cosmetics, so people who don"t have the pharmacy skill should be able to make it.
In that case, the cosmetics would be less effective than those made by people with the pharmacy skill.
So, I asked them whether it was possible to keep the prices down.
The result is as you can see.
In the store, they explained that those products were less effective than the products on offer, but a lot of people still wanted them.
"There are no problems at the shop?"
"None. A lot of the new hires are great, so I think it"s fine."
"Then that"s good."
"Sei-sama, you said that you"ll visit the shop next time, didn"t you?"
"I did. But, it"s packed today."
"O-kay. Then, are you going straight back after this?"
"That"s the plan."
"You haven"t been here in a while, so why don"t you visit some places? It"s a new place, but there"s this popular café."
"Really?"
"Yes. It"s a café for n.o.bles, but they offer exotic tea from foreign kingdoms, and it"s popular amongst n.o.bles who love new things."
I was planning on going back to the royal palace after I checked up on the shop, but I heard about the café and was a little interested.
I"m a little curious about foreign tea.
But if I go to the café, then Captain-san, as my guard, would have no choice but to come with me.
I took advantage of my day off to come here, but Captain-san didn"t.
Is it alright for him to accompany me when he"s in the middle of work?
Probably not.
I felt a little bad for some reason, from just thinking about it.
And even if he could accompany me, I was aware that I would be increasing his work because I want to see the café today.
Even though I really want to visit the café, I can"t cause trouble to others.
I was troubled over this a little, but Captain-san spoke before I could tell him that we should go home without visiting the café, "Where"s that café?"
"It"s…"
Huh? Why?
I haven"t said anything yet, right?
Is Captain-san also interested?
I looked at Captain-san, who was listening to Oscar-san"s instructions, and our eyes met when he glanced at me.
"You"re interested, aren"t you?"
"Huh? … Yes."
"Then, let"s visit it for a bit."
Is it alright?
If you say that with such a sweet smile, then I would obviously want to go to the café.
Could he tell that I was worried? Or are my expressions that easy to read?
We separated from Oscar-san and headed to the café, then I asked him how he found out that I wanted to go to the café, and he answered that my eyes had been twinkling.
Apparently, my eyes twinkled in the same way as when I talked about herbs and potions when the café was mentioned.
Embarra.s.sed by this answer, I dropped my eyes to my feet, making him laugh.
I couldn"t help but glare at him as he m.u.f.fled his voice, and his shoulders shook.
"Looks like it"s here."
"Wow!"
After separating from Oscar-san and swaying in the carriage for a few minutes, we arrived at the café.
There was a large gla.s.s window on the wall facing the road, and you could see inside the café from the outside.
It wasn"t crowded, probably because it was aimed at n.o.bles, but there were a lot of customers inside.
Captain-san escorted me, and we walked into the entrance of the café. A waiter greeted us with a smile.
Then, we continued to the back of the café.
The right side of the shop wall was painted with landscape, and the left side had several mirrors fitted on the wall.
The inside of the café looked bigger than it really was because of the mirrors.
Did they put effort into the interior design because it"s aimed at n.o.bles?
I thought as I sat down at the table we were guided to.
The waiter nodded with a smile when we told him that we wanted to drink the foreign tea without looking at the menu.
After the waiter left, I realised that I should"ve ordered something that was stuffed as well. It was a simple mistake.
I was impatient because I was curious about the new tea.
"This is the café"s recommended coffee."
"Wah?!"
Coffee?!
He just said coffee just now, didn"t he?
I was surprised by the word that had jumped out from the waiter"s mouth, and I stared at the cup that was presented to us.
I was wondering if the black water that was swaying in the cup was perhaps… but it was just as I"d expected.
A mystery since I have been summoned is that words of this world are sometimes replaced with words from my previous world, but the replaced words had a deep impact on me.
Since coming to this world, all I heard was tea and water, so Oscar-san"s words must have been replaced with tea.
Or perhaps, Oscar-san thought that coffee was a kind of tea, and he had actually said tea.
But, I can"t believe that it"s actually coffee.
"What"s wrong?" Captain-san said worriedly, probably because I was staring at the cup without putting my hands on it.
"No, I"m surprised because it"s a drink I know," I explained, and he looked at me anxiously.
"From your home country?"
"Yes."
It"s been a while since I"ve had coffee.
It"ll be a waste if I don"t drink it while it"s warm.
I lift the cup and carried it to my mouth. A nostalgic scent tickled my nose.
My smile deepened.
I used to drink this every day in j.a.pan.
"It tastes stronger than tea."
"It does. It"s even more delicious if you mix it with milk."
The coffee tasted stronger than what I was used to.
When I tilted the cup, I saw coffee powder at the bottom, so it might be similar to Turkish coffee.
"Mm? You"d had this drink before, haven"t you Sei?"
"I"ve had it before, but it tastes different from the coffee I drank in j.a.pan. They probably brew it differently."
"Brew?"
"Yes. Coffee also tastes different depending on how you brew it."
Apparently, Captain-san was curious when I had said "more delicious".
I mostly drank canned coffee and coffee made from paper drip in j.a.pan.
There are other ways to brew coffee such as nel drip, siphon, or French press, but I rarely drank coffee that was made using those methods.
I"ve never had Turkish coffee either.
"Did you drink this a lot in j.a.pan?"
"I used to drink it every day. You don"t feel sleepy anymore if you drink coffee."
According to one theory, it was all in one"s mind that coffee makes you feel awake.
However, it was a habit of mine to drink it after lunch.
I didn"t drink it constantly because drinking more than two cups in a row made me feel sick.
Still, I couldn"t stop drinking a cup after breakfast and lunch.
"Is that so?"
"I"ve also brewed it myself before."
"You made this before?"
"Yes. If I have the tools, then I can brew it here too."
Tools that look like they could be used to make coffee here… the beaker and flask at the research inst.i.tute?
But, I can"t think of a way to brew coffee with a beaker.
If I use the nel drip method, then can I make it if I have cloth and wires?
"Did you come up with something?"
"Yes. I think I can prepare tools to make coffee."
"I see."
There"s only one thing to do once I have the tools ready.
Even if I didn"t say anything, Captain-san"s eyes shone in antic.i.p.ation as if he was expecting me to do something.
I know.
Of course, I"ll treat Captain-san to coffee if I can make some.
Can I buy coffee beans from this café?
I need coffee beans and tools if I want to make coffee.
When I asked the waiter, he told me that they sold coffee beans.
Apparently, some people had the same idea, and wanted to make it like me.
I purchased a small bag of coffee beans, and we returned to the royal palace.
It was quite expensive since it was imported from a foreign kingdom.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam