Chapter 19
Magic Sauce (First)
Since we ran out of ingredients we’re eating out for today’s lunch, and Noela and I went over to the bar-and-diner that I gave the dish detergent to previously, Rabbit Hall .
When we went inside, the poster girl, Rena, came to greet us .
“Welcome, Pharmacist-san . And also Wolf-chan . ”
Noela nodded in satisfaction .
Looks like she’s delighted to be called a wolf .
The people who come to our shop call her, “Puppy,” after all .
Hm…? There’s no one else other than us in the store, even though it’s lunch time .
It’s not like they’re usually THAT prosperous, but it’s rare for no one to be here .
I requested some dishes from Rena, who came to take our orders .
“There doesn’t seem to be many customers today, ne . ”
“Ah-… ahaha… rather than just today, it’s more like recently it’s like this, I guess…”
“Recently? It’s always like this?”
Rena nodded with a bitter smile .
“Over thataways there’s a store with delicious meat cuisine; it’s called Comdale, I guess? Did you know that appeared?”
I had noticed that the delicious scent of meat and fat was coming from somewhere when I was coming over, and it seems it was coming from that new store .
Was she remembering the tasty scent? Drool dripped from Noela’s mouth .
She can’t be helped, huh? I wiped her mouth with a handkerchief .
“Aah… so as a result, here has become like this?”
“That’s how it is… Even at night, see, the people who head over there to drink have increased…”
So that means it’s not just a simple diner; it does everything that Rabbit Hall was doing, huh…
“Dad’s also been sighing a lot…”
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When she mentions it, I looked over at the counter and the shopkeeper also looks lifeless .
“Noela, Rabbit Hall, likes . ”
Along with Noela, I also like the food here .
Compared to the flashiness of the grilled meat and the scent of the fat, the menu here might be a little plain, but all of items are consistently delicious .
“Thanks, Wolf-chan . … It’s not like there aren’t ANY customers, so … I’m sure it will be fine . ”
She’s saying that, but Rena also looks lifeless .
“…Previously, the Comdale owner came over to us . It seems like he came to talk about wanting to buy our store, and we naturally refused, but as he left he was saying that we’ll definitely regret it and such . ”
Was she unable to bear with it anymore? Tears began to spill down Rena’s face .
“I mean, I mean … we couldn’t help but refuse like that … we’ve always been running the shop here; to say, ‘Okay, here you go,’ and sell it, there’s no waaay… If we sold it, afterwards, what are we supposed to do… …”
“… … Rena, cheer up . – – Ru!?”
When Noela patted Rena’s head, Rena hugged her tightly .
“Thank you, Wolf-chan . ”
As if sensing his daughter’s abnormality, the store owner come over from the interior of the shop .
With an age in the later half of his 30s, he has a large body like a bear .
“Pharmacist-san, it seems like my daughter has been telling you some unnecessary things . My apologies . ”
“No, no . It seems like it’s been tough…”
Ha ha ha; the storeowner laughed bitterly .
“It seems like Comdale has their main store in the Capital, and from there they’re putting out branch stores in every town to make a profit . ”
“And so this time they’re doing it here, so… . ”
“That’s right . It’s just, they shouldn’t have been a store that sold alcohol…”
And it seems that’s why the store owner turned them away so strongly .
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You can tell that the reason only this town’s store sells alcohol is obviously to destroy Rabbit Hall .
You might say it’s business so it can’t be helped, but their methods have a touch of evil intent to them .
Ring ring; the bell on the door rang, and a customer came in .
“Welco…”
“Oh my, what a dirty shop as always . ”
The one who came was a man with a moustache . The ends of the moustache were spun in a curl .
If I was going to give him a nickname, it would definitely be Pierre .
“Of course the customers won’t come into such a shop . ”
When Pierre(temp) said so in a mocking tone, the store owner glared at Pierre .
“What did you come her for? Are you here to talk about buying our store again?”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t discuss that after all the this time . This time I’m here to talk business . This time I would like to buy only your abilities in cooking . How about it? Won’t you work for us?”
If the store owner of Rabbit Hall goes to work for the other side, then the shop really will be destroyed .
Looks like Pierre really is a malicious bastard .
I’d get it if he was making a serious face, but that guy, he’s sneering .
“You can’t do anything about this store eventually going under, right?”
This even makes a third-party observer, like myself, irritated .
“This isn’t just a problem with profits . This store is one that’s packed with our memories . It won’t be destroyed so easily . Please leave . ”
Hmph; Pierre snorted merrily through his nose .
“I’m certain you’ll regret not selling the store then, definitely . I suppose the day isn’t far off when you’ll be bowing down and begging to work for us . Well then, good luck . ”
While waving his hand frivolously, Pierre left the store .
“Dad… is there anything we can do?”
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With a long sigh, the store owner hung his head .
The store owner’s pained feelings are obvious .
As for me, I’m the store owner for Kirio Drug .
Even if I’m told to sell it, I think I definitely wouldn’t let it go .
That place is where Noela is, where Mina is, and where all the memories in the town were made .
It isn’t about the money .
“Pharmacist-san, there wouldn’t be anything you could do…?”
“Ruu… Master, Noela is also asking…”
Rena and Noela look at me .
“I also like this store . I don’t want it destroyed . ”
That said, cooking isn’t my specialty…
The other side has the delicious scent of meat wafting around after all…
I do understand the feeling of heading over when you really want to eat .
“Hm? Scent?”
It’s said that for peoples’ sense of taste, the sense of smell plays a greater role than the sense of touch .
The scent of meat fat is certainly delicious .
But it’s not something you can sniff forever .
I don’t think it’s something everyone can eat every day .
“I wonder if I can use THAT…”
“Pharmacist-san, did you think of something?”
“Yeah . Just a bit ago, I got my hands on a large amount of ripe rockshou fruits . … Oji=san, can’t we use that?”
“Just where did you get such a high-class ingredient … Actually, rockshou is an ingredient often used to make sauces . It takes a lot of time to make, and even if I had the ingredients, I don’t know how to make it…”
He doesn’t know how to make it–?
Oji-san, who had slumped his shoulders, gave a sigh .
“Even if I had the recipe, I’ve heard that it’s difficult to prepare it without destroying the scent . ”
So there was something like that .
Ever since then, the kodra has been coming about once every three days to deliver the rockshou fruits .
It doesn’t matter if it’s a high-class ingredient or whatever; there wouldn’t be any problems if we made some mistakes .
And also;
I have the Drug Discovery skill .
Recipes and preperation methods won’t matter at all .
“If that’s how it is, then leave it to me . Rather than that, Oji-san, please think up a recipe that will win over them . ”
I left the store, and Rena’s voice called out from behind .
“Pharmacist-san, didn’t you come to eat-?”
“Leave that for later, later! See ya, I’m coming right back, after all!”
When I looked over my shoulder, Noela is waving her hand with Rena .
Looks like she has no intention of coming with me .
… . Noela wants to eat, I guess .
When I returned to the shop and went to the medicine room, I began making a medicine with rockshou fruit .
With my OP Drug Discovery skill, I made a perfect sauce with the rockshou fruits that were supposed to be difficult to handle .
“Alright, let’s beat Pierre with this!”
[Rockshou Sauce: A sauce made with rockshou fruits . It’s a high-class item with a dense scent . It has some acidity and a refreshing aftertaste . Even kings rarely have the chance to eat it . ]