Chapter 146 : Upheaval (2)
Upheaval (2)
A parchment note in Naba's hand, running toward me.
I had the intuition that this note was left behind by Plerine.
For a moment, a thousand thoughts ran through my head.
'Plerine. Did she leave the village?'
It was entirely possible.
Even if Devanne had lost his memories, Plerine hadn't.
Moreover, hadn't Plerine originally intended to leave the village at least once?
'Damn.'
The happiness from such a heartfelt welcome and the relief of being home disappeared in an instant.
No matter what, I wanted—at least to Plerine—to say.
'That I came back safe and unharmed.'
That I personally took down Squire Schutmann thanks to the enchanted magic you cast and my swordsmanship, Plerine.
"Boss?"
I snapped out of my thoughts at Naba's call.
"You really are tired, aren't you?"
Apparently, I'd unconsciously frowned.
At some point, the welcoming voices calling out to me had quieted down.
Everyone was looking at me with concern.
"Hey! What are you all doing to someone who just got back from the battlefield? Give him a moment's peace!"
Dunbell, the prime suspect who had first tired me out, slung an arm around my shoulders with a joking tone.
I couldn't keep making the mood awkward, so I played along.
"Dunbell, you running at me waving that sword—I thought you were a pig beastkin, you know?"
"What did you just say, you little—?!"
My joke landed, and everyone burst out laughing.
With the mood improved, Harper spoke up with a grin.
"Shall we go in, boss? You've got to take a tour of our newly reborn shop."
"Sounds good."
Accepting Harper and Dunbell's guidance, I also glanced at Naba and gave a signal with my eyes.
'Let's look at the note later.'
Fortunately, it seemed Naba understood my signal.
He nodded and slipped the note into his pocket.
His expression was truly serious, so it did seem to be related to Plerine,
but I did my best to control my thoughts.
Just before, I'd let my surprise show at the unexpected situation,
but as a boss, it wasn't right to overly favor one employee.
Above all, something even more unacceptable was
for other employees to realize that the boss 'favors a particular staff member.'
So, I resolved to not say a word about Plerine and followed Harper.
"Please, come inside!"
But my resolve to control my mind collapsed immediately.
"What... is all this...?"
The moment I set foot in the shop, I came to a halt.
I must have looked completely dumbfounded, jaw slack.
Ding.
〈 You have returned to Happiness Gukbap No. 1 Store. 〉
〈 Calculating points. 〉
〈 Customers are satisfied with the service. 〉
〈 You have earned 24,306 'Satisfaction'. 〉
〈 Customers recognize the service. 〉
〈 You have earned 1,873 'Recognition'. 〉
A chill ran through my whole body.
Until now, I'd only managed to keep up a little point gain from serving soldiers, but—
'I just made almost forty thousand points!'
I almost blurted out that this was insane.
It made sense, thinking back on why I'd recruited Clara so quickly in the first place.
It was because Clara's service raked in points.
But after leaving the village for the spirit stone quarry, I had stopped getting service points from my staff—
'Does the system tally up all the points and pay them out when I return to the shop?'
It felt like a bonus you received as long as you came back from an off-site job without dying.
It also made the case for expanding to a second store even stronger.
'The more stores I open, the more points I'll rack up just by making my rounds!'
Damn. I'm shameless.
A minute ago, I was panicking because I couldn't see Plerine.
Now, my brain is swimming in dopamine and joy.
I feel like I'd never starve, no matter where I was thrown on this world.
And yet my greedy brain had found something to be disappointed about, even in this situation.
'So it's only points for "service", huh.'
I guess it made sense,
but there were no points credited for the food.
It's impossible that not a single customer had been "satisfied" with, or "recognized", Dunbell's cooking.
Maybe that part would unlock once I gained more perk abilities?
I resolved to sit down and dig into the system thoroughly before bed tonight when—
"Hahaha. Boss, you must be so surprised you're speechless."
Harper's voice brought me back to reality.
Only then did I take in the redesigned interior of the main Happiness Gukbap shop.
"...."
My jaw, which had dropped in shock, closed slowly.
"I understand, boss. The customers reacted the same way at first."
Harper grinned proudly, patting the bridge of his nose and monocle.
I hesitated, wondering what to say to Harper—
Splat!
"?!"
"Isn't it great, boss?! Hahaha!"
Dunbell gave me a firm slap on the back for old time's sake.
"This guy Harper—he's got some real sense, I'm telling you."
"Haha. You flatter me, head chef."
Watching them compliment each other, I couldn't help thinking, 'here we go again.'
I heard someone mutter, "There they go again," so they must have gotten quite close while I was away.
Not that it mattered.
'Ah, geez.'
Finally grasping the situation, I shook my head,
and Harper straightened his posture, lifting his nose and chin.
"Boss! Let me explain the new interior concept of Happiness Gukbap, piece by piece."
"... Go ahead. Say whatever nonsense you want."
I replied, just barely keeping my patience in check,
and Harper's face lit up as he started chattering at machine gun speed.
"All the tables and chairs in the hall were crafted, piece by piece, by an Imperial craftsman from okgak wood..."
I didn't really listen to the long speech that followed.
I could guess what it was about anyway.
Some inherited craft, an ancient history, luxurious patterns, and so on.
How do I know this without listening?
'You can just tell at one glance!!'
No matter what angle, lying down or looking from the back, the quality stood out—even in a medieval fantasy world!!!
But expensive-looking furniture wasn't the only thing here.
'Columns, floors, ceilings, even the walls!'
Every single visible material and bit of interior screamed at me:
'Heh. I'm expensive. Please, treat me with proper care.'
My head spun.
"In fact, it's only been four days since we finished it in its current form. As I said before, none of these were easy to procure."
"Mm. I see. That must've been tough."
"Of course it—mm. Boss? Are you feeling unwell all of a sudden?"
Excitedly bragging about the interior, Harper's face twitched.
He'd only just now realized the vibe I was giving off.
But alas.
Your ally Dunbell had already slipped off into the kitchen.
Unlike you, distracted by explanations, he'd sensed the mood and escaped.
"You clearly worked very hard, Harper."
"... I did... it was pointless, huh. Ha...."
Today really was a day for learning things.
Earlier, I learned, 'Don't let your guard down over little things,' and now,
I learned that even the most reliable subordinate isn't always perfect.
Anyway,
I'd endured enough, so it was time to let loose.
"Everyone, could you please put your fingers in your ear holes for just a moment?"
No sooner had I finished than the customers put down their spoons and forks.
"Of course, I don't have to, right?"
With a faint smile, I looked at Harper and called out.
"Gal (喝)!!"
I didn't know whether Harper knew what "Gal" meant,
but it certainly seemed effective.
A faint trickle of blood ran from beneath his ears.
* * *
Harper possessed outstanding skills in restaurant management.
Especially when it came to accounting, he never made a single mistake.
That's why I knew.
He wouldn't have spent so much on the interior just for the sake of it.
The calculation was that a luxurious atmosphere would draw more customers,
and in turn, generate more profit.
But still, Harper—
'Where on earth does a gukbap shop like this exist!!'
I'd made a huge mistake.
I'd forgotten Harper came from a Michelin-tier fine dining background.
True, the first time I explained gukbap to Harper, I'd said it was "the most sophisticated and delicious food from my Earth."
Regardless, this wasn't how a gukbap shop should look!
"Sell every single painting hanging on these walls."
I commanded Harper to take down every piece of decoration hanging from the walls, ceilings, and columns.
"Yes, sir!"
Harper gathered up armfuls of decorative pieces and trailed after me.
"This one too. That one as well!"
"Yes! Sorry! I'll fix it right away!"
Given how he faithfully replied to every command, his eardrums seemed, thankfully, intact.
A much bigger problem was that today's business was now finished.
As a result, Clara became the busiest person here.
"We apologize, customers. We're closing for today due to interior renovations~"
The way she soothed customers with cuteness was commendable,
but it was all the scarier since, even with the boss back, she hadn't come to greet me.
'Same as ever, seriously.'
While we busied ourselves redoing the interior,
eventually all the customers had left and the spacious hall was empty.
Thanks to the hard work of the staff, there was nothing left on the tables.
Everything was sparkling clean and tidy.
'It really is huge when you look at it like this.'
Compared to the former Happiness Gukbap hall—which has now become the brewery—it's roughly five times bigger.
It could easily compete with high-end restaurants at Grey Fortress.
"Should we replace all the tables and chairs as well, boss?"
Harper asked, face strained with a smile.
"Hmm."
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully before answering.
"Let's just leave these as they are for now."
There's nothing wrong with letting customers use good furniture.
Maybe not the visible fancy trimmings, but—
"But where did all the staff go?"
"I sent them all to the dormitory."
Dunbell, poking his head out of the kitchen, answered.
"Dormitory?"
Harper replied to that.
"Yes. All the staff, except those on duty, are now staying at the dormitory. It boosts work efficiency, and we can accept more guests into the shop."
"That's not a bad idea. Well done."
After being scolded all this time, Harper finally got a bit of praise and tried to smile,
but the expensive ornaments in his arms caught my eye again, so I asked,
"We're fine financially, even with the dormitory, right?"
"O-of course!"
Given all the luxury pieces Harper held, we could easily fund a dormitory in Granfen.
He'd made that much money and ran the business well.
There was nothing to worry about on that front.
'Hmm. Looking back, maybe I was too harsh on him.'
Feeling unexpectedly sorry for Harper,
someone else came out from behind Dunbell in the kitchen.
"I told you not to go overboard with decorating."
Naba walked over with a wry smile tugging at one side of his mouth.
Harper let out a defeated "Kuh!" but since Naba's stance had already won, he couldn't protest.
"Huh? Where were you hiding? Not heading out tonight?"
"I'm on duty tonight."
"Even though there aren't any overnight guests?"
Dunbell asked, perplexed at Naba's presence,
but Naba ignored him and walked over to me.
"Here you go, boss."
I accepted the note Naba handed over.
Harper and Dunbell both looked puzzled at this.
"What's that, Naba? You can write?"
Dunbell asked, sounding amazed,
but Harper seemed to pick up on something, glancing knowingly between me and Naba.
"For reference, your room isn't in the dormitory, but on the second floor of the shop."
"?!"
I looked at Harper in surprise.
With the new dormitory, I'd assumed my room would be there too.
"Actually, it was Senior Naba who suggested it. He thought you'd prefer staying at the shop rather than the dormitory."
At Harper's confession, I looked over at Naba.
He bashfully scratched the bridge of his nose and asked,
"Is that alright?"
With heartfelt gratitude, I ruffled Naba's hair and replied,
"Thank you, Naba."
The difference of having the number one staff member really showed.
* * *
My room was almost exactly as it had been before.
Pretty much a copy-paste of what it was.
'Well, it's just the standard inn-room setup.'
But that was a good thing.
It felt familiar, comfortable.
Now then—
'Time to look at the note.'
Even after coming back to the shop, there was still no sign of Plerine.
Judging by Devanne's words, she had still been working at the shop until a few days ago.
And today, not a single person had mentioned Plerine to me.
Of course, I hadn't brought her up first either, but—
'Something's not right.'
Something had happened to Plerine.
She had left a note only with Naba to be passed to me.
And she'd done it without Dunbell or Harper knowing.
'What on earth happened?'
I let out a small sigh and opened the note,
hoping even for a small clue, and upon reading the brief message, I grew even more lost in the labyrinth.
—I'm in the headquarters' underground prison. Please come there secretly.